Spring Break
Conservation students study abroad
Melissa Crowe
Issue date: 2/13/08 Section: LIFE
Eighteen students ventured to what they called the "end of the world" during the winter semester, joining theories of biology and philosophy to study conservation in Punta Arenas and Puerto Williams, Chile.
"It's kind of an odd trip to pick for just one credit," Denton senior Kasi Petr said. "It's a lot of being outside."
When people think of studying abroad, Patagonia does not usually come to mind, she said.ww
Kelli Moses, a Denton junior and Omora Sub-Antarctic Research Alliance and NT program assistant, agreed with Petr.
"I think the value of it is that it is so unique, something that people don't always get to do, something that isn't regular," she said. "It's very experiential."
Ricardo Rozzi of the philosophy faculty and Jim Kennedy of the biology faculty taught "Tracing Darwin's Path," a relatively new, three-week course that investigates cultural and biological factors in conservation through collaborative work with the University of Magallanes, Omora Ethnobotanical Park, OSARA, the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity and the Center for Environmental Philosophy.
The course was separated into two classes. The biology class, directed by Kennedy, studied freshwater aquatic invertebrates within the Robálo Watershed in the Navarrino Mountains.
The philosophy class, led by Rozzi, was further divided into two groups. The Ethnoornithology group chronicled images of local birds for a publication and made recordings of their names in English, Spanish and the native Yagan language.
The miniature forest group studied the mosses, lichens and liverworts in the Omora Ethnobotanical Park. Both groups also studied the relationships humans share with birds and plants in specific cultures.
"You learn that things don't always happen in a linear kind of way all the time, which is so embedded in our culture," said Amanda Dunnavant, a Longview senior and two-time participant in the program. "The whole idea of A and B, goal orientation things."
"It's kind of an odd trip to pick for just one credit," Denton senior Kasi Petr said. "It's a lot of being outside."
When people think of studying abroad, Patagonia does not usually come to mind, she said.ww
Kelli Moses, a Denton junior and Omora Sub-Antarctic Research Alliance and NT program assistant, agreed with Petr.
"I think the value of it is that it is so unique, something that people don't always get to do, something that isn't regular," she said. "It's very experiential."
Ricardo Rozzi of the philosophy faculty and Jim Kennedy of the biology faculty taught "Tracing Darwin's Path," a relatively new, three-week course that investigates cultural and biological factors in conservation through collaborative work with the University of Magallanes, Omora Ethnobotanical Park, OSARA, the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity and the Center for Environmental Philosophy.
The course was separated into two classes. The biology class, directed by Kennedy, studied freshwater aquatic invertebrates within the Robálo Watershed in the Navarrino Mountains.
The philosophy class, led by Rozzi, was further divided into two groups. The Ethnoornithology group chronicled images of local birds for a publication and made recordings of their names in English, Spanish and the native Yagan language.
The miniature forest group studied the mosses, lichens and liverworts in the Omora Ethnobotanical Park. Both groups also studied the relationships humans share with birds and plants in specific cultures.
"You learn that things don't always happen in a linear kind of way all the time, which is so embedded in our culture," said Amanda Dunnavant, a Longview senior and two-time participant in the program. "The whole idea of A and B, goal orientation things."
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