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At LSSU, we emphasize hands-on, real-world experiences. Our classrooms extend into the rivers, lakes, wetlands, and forests in our backyard and beyond. Our students leave with strong technical skills matched by a theoretical understanding of natural resources conservation and management.
Courses I have taught for >10 years at LSSU: BIOL199 - Freshman Seminar (Fall) BIOL286 - Principles of Watersheds (Spring) BIOL345 - Limnology and lab (Fall) BIOL399 - Junior Seminar (Fall & Spring) BIOL475 - Aquatic Entomology and lab (Spring) Special topics courses (offered when there is interest): Cultural, Ecological, and Human Health Issues of New Zealand - Spring 2017 & 2019 Marine Biology in Belize (Study Abroad) - offered fall 2015, spring 2018 Ecology & Management of Sub-Sahara Africa (Study Abroad) - offered in 2009 & 2014 Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems Great Lakes Ecology & Sustainability (includes week-long sail on Lake Michigan) |
LSSU TRAVELS IN NEW ZEALAND - MAY 2017
For 2019 travel blogs, check out LSSU's study abroad page!
Click here to follow our travels in New Zealand this May! Biology and Nursing students will be exploring the linkages between ecological and human health and Maori culture in the beautiful landscape of New Zealand.
LSSU TRAVELS IN BELIZE
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Fifteen LSSU students will be traveling with me to Belize for 10 days to explore the ecology and culture of this beautiful Central American country. The students will be updating our adventures as we go (and as long as we have internet access). Follow along!
Tuesday, 12/29 - Departure
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You better belize it....we are Belize bound today! Most of our group spent the night at the Milan's and had an early morning departure after a short night's sleep. The Milan's (John's dad, mom, and brother) drove our group at 3:30am to the airport--what angels! We flew from Detroit to Miami and are awaiting a slightly delayed flight to Belize City. The group is making the best of the layover, but everyone is excited for the sun and the reefs! - Dr. M
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Wednesday, 12/30 - Day 1 San Pedro, Belize
The day began with breakfast at 8:00am. We had watermelon, papaya, cinnamon bread with syrup and coffee. Afterwards we set out on the boat to Tres Cocos where we were able to see beautiful sea grass beds, elkhorn coral, staghorn coral and various types of reef fishes. Some students encountered a large nurse shark, a southern stingray and an octopus. We wanted to post a couple pictures of the octopus since some already considered this the highlight of their trip.
The second trip out after snorkeling was also at Tres Cocos, but in a different area. This time we saw a spotted eagle ray, green sea turtle, massive stands of elkhorn coral, an invasive lionfish, and again, a large diversity of coral fishes. We are all looking forward to tomorrow where new adventures will be had, and new memories made! -Rachel & John
The second trip out after snorkeling was also at Tres Cocos, but in a different area. This time we saw a spotted eagle ray, green sea turtle, massive stands of elkhorn coral, an invasive lionfish, and again, a large diversity of coral fishes. We are all looking forward to tomorrow where new adventures will be had, and new memories made! -Rachel & John
Thursday, 12/31 - Day 2 San Pedro, Belize
We had another busy, but fabulous day out on the water. After a breakfast of fried bread, beans, eggs, and fresh fruit, we headed out to a Marine Protected Area called Mexico Rocks for a full day of snorkeling. Mexico Rocks was full of incredible diversity and abundance of fish, coral, and other invertebrates. Highlights included a pair of large nurse sharks, green sea turtle, an electric ray, and schools of Caribbean reef squid that the students were able to surround and make ink. Other interesting sightings included grey and french angelfish, donkey dung sea cucumber, southern stingrays (pic above), and a diversity of corals and sponges. Although exhausted, the students were refueled by a fabulous dinner of beans, rice, chicken, and homemade tortillas, and then pushed through and worked on designing their research projects into the evening. The majority then got to ring in the new year Belizean style and celebrated in the city center with music & dancing, food & drinks, and a fabulous fireworks show on the beach. They all got to sleep in the next morning--which is why I (Dr. M.) am updating the blog this time. :-)
Friday, January 1 - Day 4 San Pedro, Belize
Happy New Year! sincerest apologies for our delayed post, but the internet on San Pedro is slightly less than reliable. We started our morning with a delicious late breakfast of fresh watermelon and pineapple paired with pancakes, cinnamon rolls and monkey bread. Our journey today began by heading out to the mangroves just south of San Pedro. The mangroves are often referred to as the nurseries of the sea because this is where many fish reside while growing to maturity. We saw a wide variety of young fish including silver sides, sergeant majors, juvenile french angelfish and even several small barracuda. We took this time snorkeling in the mangroves to work on Mick's senior thesis project regarding fish diversity in the presence of the invasive lionfish. At first we were afraid we might not find any lionfish, but to our surprise there were many residing in the area. Another highlight of our snorkel through the mangroves was finding a batfish, which is an odd looking bottom dweller with leg-like fins. After our time in the mangroves we headed back north to Tuffy Reef where we practiced our data collection methods for our species diversity study. After Tuffy Reef we headed back to TREC for a dinner of curry chicken, salad, slaw, tortillas and curry vegetable stew over white rice. After dinner we had a debriefing regarding the methods of our study and due to exhaustion, we all headed to bed early in prep for our long adventurous day tomorrow. - James & Mick
Saturday, January 2 - Day 5 San Pedro, Belize
Another beautifully sunny day dawned and we were super excited to get a jump it. Today was less windy today, which meant an easier day for snorkeling. After a breakfast of eggs, salsa, refried beans, pineapple, and watermelon, we took off to go to Caye Caulker. We were with another group of students for most of the day today. These students are Central Connecticut State University and have been staying at TREC as well. On the way we stopped off at a sunken construction barge to see the progression of the different corals in the area. Immediately, we got to see a manatee swim past our boat- which was amazing as many of us had not seen a manatee before. We then snorkeled the barge and the surrounding coral reefs. After this we completed our boat ride to Caye Caulker where we had a lunch of chicken burgers. Once we ate, we were allowed to explore the island where we got to try foods –ice cream and smoothies- and see a tarpon pit. After an exciting day on the island we all boarded the boat again and took off for another snorkeling sight, Coral Gardens. Even though we only got 30 minutes to snorkel this we all saw many cool things. Some of the things we spotted were a green moray eel, a balloonfish, shrimp, a nurse shark, and fire worms. Once our time was up we all went back to the dock where we split up. The CCSU students went back to TREC, where as we ate pizza as we went out to Tuffy Reef to do our night snorkel. While snorkeling we saw three types of bioluminescent species that would light up when we all turned our dive lights off. Even though most of us are pretty exhausted we are all very thankful to be here and we are all having a blast! – Katie and Andrew
Sunday, January 3 - San Pedro, Belize
Waking up in the morning of day 5 came all too quickly after a long day which included our incredible night snorkel. First came a great breakfast of French toast and fruit, followed by applying sunscreen to our inevitably, sunburned bodies. This was all in preparation for what would be our last amazing day of snorkeling and adventuring on the island of San Pedro.
We reached the docks to find out that we would be voyaging on a new vessel to us, the Rum Punch II: a red sail boat just big enough to fit all of us and our gear with a few passengers’ legs hanging into the beautiful, blue ocean waters below. After a relaxing ride out to our first snorkeling site of the day, the shark-ray alley, we were greeted by 3 nurse sharks and a southern ray below us. Once in the water we entered a frenzy of Bermuda Chubs, Horse-Eye Jacks, Southern Stingrays, and Nurse Sharks, all excited by the new visitors to their domain. After swimming through a labyrinth of corals inhabited by a multitude of grunts, damselfish, angelfish, parrotfish and even the occasional ray, we found ourselves in the eerie place known as the Queen Conch graveyard. There we encountered many rarities such as Porcupine fish, Remora, Triggerfish, and the elusive Horseshoe Stingray before taking an alternate route back to our secondary vessel for the day, the mighty “Goliath.”
On the “Goliath,” relaxation and recuperation ensued in the soothing rays of the of the Caribbean sun while delightedly munching on PB&Js, Chicken Salad Sandwiches, and our new favorite the famous TREC bean dip, we arrived at the famous MPA (Marine Protected Area), Hol Chan. We then split into groups to explore this beautiful oasis of reef life. We encountered more marine life such as rare Hogfish, massive Moray Eels, a reclusive Lionfish, our first Green Sea Turtle, and a Cubera Snapper as long as Dr. Moerke. Before heading back to “Goliath” we were given the opportunity to dive down and swim through a beautiful underwater tunnel. We hurried back to “Goliath” and got to hang out with a Green Sea Turtle on the way.
We arrived at the location of our final snorkeling opportunity, Tuffy reef, with just enough time to complete data collection for our group research projects. We collected data that would be the finishing touches on the research projects started just minutes earlier at Hol Chan. With an exhausted, bittersweet sentiment, we exited the water for the final time and proceeded back to dry land, filled with laughter as we compared the extent of our sunburns. -Kyle & Charlie
We reached the docks to find out that we would be voyaging on a new vessel to us, the Rum Punch II: a red sail boat just big enough to fit all of us and our gear with a few passengers’ legs hanging into the beautiful, blue ocean waters below. After a relaxing ride out to our first snorkeling site of the day, the shark-ray alley, we were greeted by 3 nurse sharks and a southern ray below us. Once in the water we entered a frenzy of Bermuda Chubs, Horse-Eye Jacks, Southern Stingrays, and Nurse Sharks, all excited by the new visitors to their domain. After swimming through a labyrinth of corals inhabited by a multitude of grunts, damselfish, angelfish, parrotfish and even the occasional ray, we found ourselves in the eerie place known as the Queen Conch graveyard. There we encountered many rarities such as Porcupine fish, Remora, Triggerfish, and the elusive Horseshoe Stingray before taking an alternate route back to our secondary vessel for the day, the mighty “Goliath.”
On the “Goliath,” relaxation and recuperation ensued in the soothing rays of the of the Caribbean sun while delightedly munching on PB&Js, Chicken Salad Sandwiches, and our new favorite the famous TREC bean dip, we arrived at the famous MPA (Marine Protected Area), Hol Chan. We then split into groups to explore this beautiful oasis of reef life. We encountered more marine life such as rare Hogfish, massive Moray Eels, a reclusive Lionfish, our first Green Sea Turtle, and a Cubera Snapper as long as Dr. Moerke. Before heading back to “Goliath” we were given the opportunity to dive down and swim through a beautiful underwater tunnel. We hurried back to “Goliath” and got to hang out with a Green Sea Turtle on the way.
We arrived at the location of our final snorkeling opportunity, Tuffy reef, with just enough time to complete data collection for our group research projects. We collected data that would be the finishing touches on the research projects started just minutes earlier at Hol Chan. With an exhausted, bittersweet sentiment, we exited the water for the final time and proceeded back to dry land, filled with laughter as we compared the extent of our sunburns. -Kyle & Charlie
Monday, January 4 - San Ignacio, Belize
Today was our final day at the TREC station. We woke up early to have a 6:30 am breakfast and make sure we weren’t forgetting anything. We left the station to head to the San Pedro municipal airport. We flew Maya airlines from San Pedro to the Municipal airport in Belize City. We were picked up by our tour guides Luis, George and Zach. From there we were taken to the Belize Zoo to get our first taste of Belizean terrestrial wildlife. The first few creatures that we were introduced to were a Tapir, Toucan, Leopard and Harpy Owl. We were able to watch Junior the leopard, feed right behind the caged fence. From the zoo we ventured to Cheers for lunch. There was a beautiful, luscious green field where free ranged chickens were held. We ate lunch and changed into bathing suits to prepare for the river tubing excursion. It was a fifteen-minute drive to Cave Branch River where we geared up with helmets, head lamps, life jackets and large, yellow inner tubes. We walked a 45-minute hike through the beautifully tranquil jungle. At the beginning of our hike we were given the opportunity to taste termites that tasted like spearmint. We were told to be careful of the spiny bamboo so we didn’t have to swim through the caves rather than tube. We ended up at the mouth of the cave where we were able to jump off rock formations into the chilled, freshwater river pool. The Caribbean ocean that we had been snorkeling in for the past four days was around 82 degrees Fahrenheit and the river pool in the forest was nowhere near that warm. We estimated that the river was around ten degrees colder than the ocean we had been so used to. After the long hike it was a refreshing dip and a great introduction to the freshwater ecosystems Belize has to offer. We then tubed through the calcium encrusted caves where we were able to see Mayan art on the walls. As we continued through the cave we came up to a small waterfall where we were splashed with very brisk water. As we made our way through the winding river we came to another tall rock formation where we were all able to cliff jump off of. The fall felt like it lasted seconds longer than it actually did. It was a major hit for everyone and we all jumped multiple times. After we returned our gear to the station we boarded our tour bus and made our way to Clarissa Falls. It was a down pour the entire time and the majority of the students worked on their methods section of our research paper that was due at the end of the night. Once we got settled into our rooms at Clarissa Falls we were served an amazing chicken, rice and beans and salad dinner. It was by far one of the best meals we’ve had thus far. As the night came to an end we continued to work on our research papers and chatted about how wonderful of a day if was. We cannot wait to hike the Mayan ruins tomorrow morning. -Morgan & Nicole
Tuesday, January 5 - Clarissa Falls, Belize
Today was our first full day at Clarissa Falls Resort. We enjoyed an amazing homemade breakfast by Azucena Galvez (Miss Chena) the owner here. We enjoyed fresh cantaloupe juice, eggs, pico de gallo, cheese, and fried jacks. After breakfast we went for a guided hike by Miss Chena to see all the jungle plants that were used for medicinal purposes. Many of these plants were home remedies that were carried on from the Mayan culture. Some of the claimed purposes ranged from curing cancer, birth control, upset stomach, venereal diseases and more. Many of these remedies have become obsolete due to modern day medicine, but some of the locals carry on the traditions. Once the hike was over we arrived at the Mayan ruin Xunantunich. Xunantunich is a Mayan word meaning Stone Lady in English. At its peak population this city held approximately 10,000 people. The structures are still being renovated by archeologist from Universities in the United States. Our tour guides name was Junior and he was a wealth of information because he had helped with the renovations and now is a guide with certificates from Michigan State University. This ruin was massive and took many generations of Mayans to finish. The largest building is called El Castillo and is about 40 meters tall and you can see Guatemala from the top of this structure. It is mind boggling to think that people in their time (900BCE-1000CE) could construct such breath taking building with such intricate art. After the ruins we went for another tubing trip down the Mopan River. We were able to pick some fresh Jamaican limes that were hanging over the river. This was such a nice relaxing river trip to end the activities for the day. Following that we had yet another amazing meal from Miss Chena. We all wish we could take her or her recipes home so we can continue to enjoy this unreal cuisine. – Jonathan & Scott
Wednesday, January 6 - Clarissa Falls, Belize
The dawn of the new day began with the crowing of the resident rooster at Clarissa Falls…at 4am. Though the rooster was up, the rest of us got a few more hours of shut eye before beginning our day. The promise of breakfast finally lured us out of our beds at 7am. This promise was fulfilled in the form of Spanish omelets, allspice tea (made from leaves on a local tree), fresh pineapple, flour tortillas, homemade jam, beans, and fresh star fruit juice. As soon as we were done eating we all waddled out to the bus and settled in for a short drive to Mayan ruins, Cahal Pech.
In its prime Cahal Pech had 20,000 inhabitants but while we were exploring this ancient site it was all but deserted. Though the inhabitants were gone their structures remained. We entered through what once was the largest plaza of the city and was open to all inhabitants, it was the only one if its kind in this ancient city. Our exploring led us to the base of tallest structure. Naturally, we immediately climbed it. To document our achievement, we all posed for a picture at the top. We were eager to continue exploring and all scrambled to get down and to the next structure. Our inquisitive wanderings led us through the rest of the site. We explored Mayan bedrooms, pac-ta-pac ball courts, plazas reserved for royalty, and even sat in the seat reserved for the king. We even had a chance to meet archaeologists from the University of Montana to learn about their excavations there. After perusing a souvenir shop, we loaded our hungry selves back on to the bus to head to our next adventure.
To prepare for our adventure at St. Herman’s National park (cave system) we required some gear. We assembled our helmets, lights, and most importantly, lunch. We all grained up on delicious homemade sandwiches, fresh bananas, pop, cookies, and Doritos and then headed out. It was a quick sunny walk to the entrance of the cave but the sunny blue sky soon fell far behind us and out of sight as we descended into the depths of the cave led by our guides Zachary and Louis. Inside the cave we were greeted with the sight of a clear river and glimmering calcium carbonate stalactites and stalagmites. Upon passing an ominous sign saying “caution, use a guide beyond this point” things got a little more interesting. The rocks we were climbing over got larger and larger and the ceiling got lower and lower until finally we were using the small beam of lights from our head lamps to carefully shimmy our way up a rope and into the cavern above. Once everyone was settled in we turned off our lights to experience absolute darkness. There was no light and we couldn’t even pick out our own hands in front of our faces, we were completely blind. Our adventure didn’t end here though. Soon we broke into two groups and one group at a time we carefully traversed a narrow passage that led to yet another cavern. Here we learned of the ancient rituals of bloodletting and inadvertently participated in a modern version of it when a palm was accidentally scraped. Our safe passage back out of the cave was probably guaranteed by this accidental sacrifice. We gingerly climbed, twisted and scooted on our butts down a slippery clay covered slope. After we were all thoroughly covered in clay we attempted to clean off in the same river that we passed on the way in. When we left the clay content of the river was a tad higher than when we entered. It was a relief to many, and a disappointment to others, when we finally saw glimmer of daylight from an opening above. We ascended out of the clammy darkness and into the bright sunlight of the world above where we followed the same bright path back to the bus. We all felt very grimy and our next adventure was one we all looked forward to.
Blue Hole National Park was our next grand adventure and we were more than ready to wash off the grime from the cave in the freshwater blue hole formed by a natural spring. We wasted no time jumping into the cool fresh water where we chased small fish in attempt to identify them, dove down to the drop off of the hole, observed the largest spider many of us had ever seen, and splashed around. Our time in the hole was refreshing and left us famished and looking forward to dinner.
After changing and drying off it was time for our final dinner in Belize. We enjoyed freshly fried grouper filets, rice, stewed beans, rice, fresh salsa, chips, and freshly made limeade. After inhaling all of our fantastic food, Dr. Moerke surprised us all with mock awards. Though not an official award, we gave Dr. Moerke an award too, the Dr. Mom award for organizing this amazing 10-day trip and wrangling 15 eccentric college students. These awards made us all laugh, smile, and remember the good times that we had these last 10 amazing days in Belize. - Katherine and Michael
In its prime Cahal Pech had 20,000 inhabitants but while we were exploring this ancient site it was all but deserted. Though the inhabitants were gone their structures remained. We entered through what once was the largest plaza of the city and was open to all inhabitants, it was the only one if its kind in this ancient city. Our exploring led us to the base of tallest structure. Naturally, we immediately climbed it. To document our achievement, we all posed for a picture at the top. We were eager to continue exploring and all scrambled to get down and to the next structure. Our inquisitive wanderings led us through the rest of the site. We explored Mayan bedrooms, pac-ta-pac ball courts, plazas reserved for royalty, and even sat in the seat reserved for the king. We even had a chance to meet archaeologists from the University of Montana to learn about their excavations there. After perusing a souvenir shop, we loaded our hungry selves back on to the bus to head to our next adventure.
To prepare for our adventure at St. Herman’s National park (cave system) we required some gear. We assembled our helmets, lights, and most importantly, lunch. We all grained up on delicious homemade sandwiches, fresh bananas, pop, cookies, and Doritos and then headed out. It was a quick sunny walk to the entrance of the cave but the sunny blue sky soon fell far behind us and out of sight as we descended into the depths of the cave led by our guides Zachary and Louis. Inside the cave we were greeted with the sight of a clear river and glimmering calcium carbonate stalactites and stalagmites. Upon passing an ominous sign saying “caution, use a guide beyond this point” things got a little more interesting. The rocks we were climbing over got larger and larger and the ceiling got lower and lower until finally we were using the small beam of lights from our head lamps to carefully shimmy our way up a rope and into the cavern above. Once everyone was settled in we turned off our lights to experience absolute darkness. There was no light and we couldn’t even pick out our own hands in front of our faces, we were completely blind. Our adventure didn’t end here though. Soon we broke into two groups and one group at a time we carefully traversed a narrow passage that led to yet another cavern. Here we learned of the ancient rituals of bloodletting and inadvertently participated in a modern version of it when a palm was accidentally scraped. Our safe passage back out of the cave was probably guaranteed by this accidental sacrifice. We gingerly climbed, twisted and scooted on our butts down a slippery clay covered slope. After we were all thoroughly covered in clay we attempted to clean off in the same river that we passed on the way in. When we left the clay content of the river was a tad higher than when we entered. It was a relief to many, and a disappointment to others, when we finally saw glimmer of daylight from an opening above. We ascended out of the clammy darkness and into the bright sunlight of the world above where we followed the same bright path back to the bus. We all felt very grimy and our next adventure was one we all looked forward to.
Blue Hole National Park was our next grand adventure and we were more than ready to wash off the grime from the cave in the freshwater blue hole formed by a natural spring. We wasted no time jumping into the cool fresh water where we chased small fish in attempt to identify them, dove down to the drop off of the hole, observed the largest spider many of us had ever seen, and splashed around. Our time in the hole was refreshing and left us famished and looking forward to dinner.
After changing and drying off it was time for our final dinner in Belize. We enjoyed freshly fried grouper filets, rice, stewed beans, rice, fresh salsa, chips, and freshly made limeade. After inhaling all of our fantastic food, Dr. Moerke surprised us all with mock awards. Though not an official award, we gave Dr. Moerke an award too, the Dr. Mom award for organizing this amazing 10-day trip and wrangling 15 eccentric college students. These awards made us all laugh, smile, and remember the good times that we had these last 10 amazing days in Belize. - Katherine and Michael
Thursday, January 7 - Departure for Michigan
This morning was our final meal in Belize. Miss Chena and her staff sent us off with another fabulous breakfast as we shared highlights from the last 9 days. We said our goodbyes to Miss Chena and Jose' and then departed Clarissa Falls and headed to Belize City to catch our afternoon flight back to the US. After a long day of travel, we arrived safely in Detroit around 1 am. I imagine most of the students will spend the next day or two catching up on sleep and sharing pictures and stories with their friends and family. It was quite an amazing experience for all, including me. This group of students continuously stepped out of their comfort zone and found the excitement in each day's adventure. I was impressed by their willingness to try new activities and food, and their great appreciation for the Belize culture, people, and natural resources. They were fabulous ambassadors of LSSU! I hope they are all inspired to continue to explore!
Thanks for following our travels. More pictures will come in the next few days, so check back again soon!
Thanks for following our travels. More pictures will come in the next few days, so check back again soon!