2008 Animal Conservation and Field Study Program
Funded by the Duttenhaver Fund
Learning Adventure in Brazil
Six students and four adult mentors were the lucky participants in an expedition to the grasslands of Brazil in July 2008. For its inaugural journey, the Animal Conservation and Field Study Program team took part in an Earthwatch Institute research project studying the carnivore population in Emas National Park. The sixteen day adventure was sponsored by a generous grant from the Duttenhaver Fund, a new donor to GLAZA. The gift was inspired by the donor’s belief in the positive impact of international travel and study and matched the Zoo’s interest in developing field opportunities for students evaluating a future in biological science.
About every two weeks we will be featuring a participant's impression of this amazing opportunity.
Read on to learn about their experiences...
Bryce Trevett, Eco-Corps Student
My experience on this research trip to Brazil was unbelievable. I still haven’t overcome the fact that I was rewarded with such a privilege! My whole life I have wanted to be a field zoologist, and after being allowed to assist real scientists, in a real scenario, just completely captivated my passion! Once I snapped my gloves on, and put my hands on a wild maned wolf, I instantly knew there was no other career that would even venture into my mind from that moment forward. It was a blessing! Being in the field, aside from the animals themselves, is just as amazing as the work itself.
One of my first memories of the trip was waking up the very first morning at the field station. The sun had just begun to rise, and Bob and I walked over to the fence to snap some photos of the beautiful sun glazed grassland that stretched for miles from the side of the house. As we started walking back, Bob and I instantaneously froze in our tracks. Not even ten feet from where Bob and I stood, sat a gorgeous and plump little burrowing owl! It was standing directly above its burrow and sat so that one entire side of the animal was lit up, absorbing the early morning sun rays. This owl was hardly twenty feet from the house! Talk about a good breakfast to start off the day! Bob and I slowly crawled, army style, closer and closer to it snapping as many photos as we could. It allowed us to approach with in a couple feet of it, until it jumped up a foot and glided over about ten more feet away from us and let out a little peep. Perhaps it had some owlets in that burrow! Even after an encounter with such a common animal in the area like that, the only thought lingering in my head was “yes, this is what I want my job to be like, every day!”
Every aspect about the field work and side jobs we did during the trip was outstanding and I was overwhelmed with satisfaction to partake in all of it. I loved canoeing down the river. I loved the fact that we were physically going into pristine habitat to search for possible Jaguar corridor sights and game trails to set up camera traps. That was fantastic! The effort put into that rigorous five hour canoe paddle really shows how determined and persistent one has to be to make such an effort related to conservation measures. I only wish we could have started even further up the river and gone even further than we did in the first place. Maybe something like thirty miles of river going would have produced more and better locations for camera traps. I mean, you never know what’s just around the river bend, right?
After this research trip in Emas National Park, I am sure that there is no better or more rewarding career in the world for me then being in the field, working with, and saving wild animals. This trip has sky-rocketed my passion for working in the field as a zoologist!
