Marsupials in Australia #2

By:

Rebecca Lynn

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Rebecca Lynn

<i>"Hello" in your host country's language:</i> Habari <i>Home Institution (your U.S. University/College):</i> Iowa State University <i>Expected graduation year:</i> 2024 <i>Destination city & country:</i> Yungaburra, Australia and Rhotia, Tanzania <i>Program provider:</i> School of Field Studies <i>Major/minor:</i> Forestry and Animal Ecology <i>Demographics:</i> Caucasian/White <i>Future career aspirations:</i> I am extremely passionate about preserving and restoring habitat for wildlife all across the world. My plan is to begin working on my master's degree in wildlife biology after graduating from Iowa State University. My end goal is to obtain my doctorate in restoration ecology and conduct research to discover the best way to preserve and restore some of the most fragile ecosystems. I am hoping that my experience through the School of Field Studies will help me understand what I would like to focus on for my master's research. <i>Top 3 goals for your time abroad:</i> 1) Leave a positive impact on the people of the Rhotia community in Tanzania. 2) Better understand what I would like to do for my graduate school programs. 3) Scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef.

It has been another crazy busy week! We participated in two night spotlighting hikes to look for marsupials in the wild. We saw some Lemuroid Possums and some endangered Northern Yellow-Bellied Gliders. We also gathered data for our research project, mine is focusing on the effectiveness of passive and active rainforest restoration for marsupial habitat. Which means I spent most of my days last week collecting field data at my two locations. On Thursday we camped at Granite George Nature Park in Mareeba- which was amazing. There are wild Mareeba Rock Wallabies there which are simi-friendly so I was able to pet a few wallabies. We spent Friday at Port Douglas, touring an exhibit which had several different biomes found in Australia and some of the wildlife you would expect to encounter at each location. On Saturday we had a free day in Cairns so I took advantage of it and went scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef. I have mad so many memories this week that I don’t know which one is my favorite! Only 10 days left of my trip, can’t believe how quickly time is going by.