Hello, my name is Mary Kate Starner and I am one of the research students in Dr. Young’s Locomotion Lab! My research is building on Dr. Young’s research on limb bone scaling in turtles, but I am focusing specifically on scaling patterns in Emydid turtles. The purpose of my study is to identify whether scaling patterns differ between Emydid taxa relative to their ecological habitats. More on that in my next post! Over the summer, I had a great opportunity to take a biology class called Environments of Ecuador, in which we traveled to Ecuador for two weeks at the end of May to study three different environments and cultures in this beautiful country. Throughout the two weeks, we spent four days in Otavalo, a city north of Quito, five days in the Amazon Rainforest, five days in the Galápagos Islands, and three days in Quito. During our time in Otavalo, one of our first destinations was an outdoor market where we could buy goods that were handcrafted by native peoples. It was quite the experience, as they spoke little English, but enough to understand when you needed a larger size or wanted to negotiate prices. One thing I was not prepared for was the bargaining, but after some practice, I got the hang of it. My favorite purchase that day, however, was an alpaca sweater that will definitely come in handy when it starts to get cold in the winter. We also were invited into three local homes where one of the men played some Ecuadorian music for us with all sorts of different instruments, including one that was made out of an armadillo shell! The other house we visited was a woman who made clothing by using a lune, which she demonstrated how it is used as well as how she dyes the wool for different pieces of clothing and blankets. When we visited the last home, we had no idea that there was a surprise for us at dinner. We were all enjoying our appetizers when the main course comes out, and to our surprise, it was guinea pig! I never tried it before and it was interesting to eat, but it was not that bad (I ended up going back for seconds). During our time in Otavalo, we volunteered at a local school by helping clean up their classroom and move rocks/overturn soil to plant some flowers. After we finished our tasks, we played a friendly game of soccer (Ecuador vs. USA) against the students with the end score being 5-4, with Ecuador winning. After our time in Otavalo, we hopped onto a plane to head to the Amazon Rainforest, which was an adventure in and of itself. When we arrived in Cocoa (after a 45-minute flight), we boarded a bus to go get ready to board a motorized canoe down the Napo River to our hotel, which was going to be about a 2-2.5-hour ride. After the canoe ride, we hiked for approximately 20 minutes through the rainforest and then we boarded a regular canoe for a 30-minute ride down river that leads straight to our hotel, the Sacha Lodge. Throughout our time there, we hiked A LOT, saw A LOT of animals, insects, and birds, and even went piranha fishing! We went on both a night hike and a night canoe ride in which we saw a tarantula (my group saw a total of three throughout the whole trip) and a juvenile caiman. During our night canoe ride, though, it was a clear night sky which was absolutely breathtaking. It’s a sight that you just have to see in person! During the day, we hiked to the canopy walk and treehouse that both towered above the rainforest. We were able to see a 3-toed sloth, a few toucans, and a vast number of macaws. My favorite activity, though, was piranha fishing; I actually caught one that was big enough to cook and it tasted delicious! The piranha that I caught during piranha fishing After we returned from the Amazon, we headed to the beautiful Galápagos Islands! I was not expecting the islands to look like another planet when we landed; there was little plant life and the ground was this reddish, clay-like color. However, I learned quickly that that is from the lava that cooled to form these islands. On the main island we stayed on, Santa Cruz, we visited a lava tunnel, the Galápagos Tortoise Reserve, the Charles Darwin Center, and took photos with seals on the dock. We visited three different Islands, in addition to Santa Cruz: Chinese Hat (Sombrero Chino), South Plaza Island (Isla Plaza Sur), and Bartolomé Island (Isla Bartolomé). We went snorkeling every day around each of these islands and we had some friends decide to join us twice: some cute little Galápagos penguins and a group of about five white tip reef sharks. While we were aboard our boat, we saw a breaching pilot whale, many rays jumping out of the water, a school of tuna, and many pelicans and blue-footed boobies! One of the few Galápagos Tortoises we saw View from the top of the Bartolomé Island trail This trip is one that I highly recommend everyone taking at least once in their life. Ecuador is such a beautiful country that is filled with loving people who want to share their culture with the world. I know that I cannot wait until the day that I get to go back, especially to return to the Amazon Rainforest!
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AuthorsAlok Agwick Archives
February 2024
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