Malaspina students tackle multi-faceted research around the world

More than 40 Malaspina University-College students are in Belize, Central America, this month working on research projects related to tourism, geography, and biology.

“In addition to Belize, we have students all over the world on faculty-led field schools and field trips in countries including Ghana, Chile, the Cook Islands, Tanzania, Italy, Hawaii, Indonesia, Belgium and the U.S.,” said Audrey Hansen, Coordinator of Malaspina’s Study Abroad program. Students are also involved in exchanges or internships in Holland, England, France, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Uganda, Brazil, Cambodia and Japan.

“Malaspina supports study abroad as a way to broaden and enrich a student’s classroom experience,” said Brownyn Jenkins-Deas, Malaspina’s Dean of International Education. “Our students frequently report that study abroad is one of their most meaningful and enriching educational experiences, providing them with opportunities for experiential learning and personal development.”

Biology professor Tim Goater said 19 students left Nanaimo May 8 to learn about ecosystems and past and present cultures of Belize, a central American/Caribbean country with a population of 270,000.

“It’s our eighth field school to Belize,” said Goater, who’s leading this year's trip with biology department colleagues Ed van Zinderen Bakker and Eric Demers. “Students typically have the cultural and biological experiences of their lives."

Students are staying with Creole and Mayan families in the villages of Crooked Tree and Maya Centre as part of the anthropology component of the trip. The biology focus is designed for university students who have a keen interest in exploring and learning about marine and tropical environments. Goater said the field school is based at the Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, and the group will explore the diverse Belizean ecosystems from there. 

“Highlights will include a three-day canoe trip, four days camping and studying in the tropical rainforest of the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary and another four days camping at Mountain Pine Ridge, interspersed with visits to fabulous Mayan ruins,” said Goater. “The last 10 days are spent studying marine ecology and snorkeling in sea grass meadow, mangrove and coral reef ecosystems at Caye Caulker, a spectacular island destination on the coast.”

Meanwhile, a group of Malaspina geography students are participating in Malaspina’s first ever field school to Belize with part-time faculty members Larry Wolfe and Pam Shaw, both professional planners. The students are helping the town of Orange Walk, population 16,000, examine and resolve community planning issues.

“Our students are immersed in the culture and geography of Belize,” said Wolfe. “Students stayed for three days in Bermudian Landing, a Belizean community in the Community Baboon Sanctuary, learning about tropical ecosystems and Caribbean creole culture. They also visited the University of Belize and heard lectures on the social, political, and cultural life of Belize.”

The field school is a perfect opportunity for students to earn university credits while gaining valuable real-world experience in a developing country, Wolfe said. They will also spend one week doing volunteer work in Indian Church Village, an isolated community of 250 residents, the majority of whom are considered refugees because they fled Guatemala in the 1970s due to political unrest.

The idea for the geography field school arose from Dr. Wolfe’s previous work in Belize, where he taught at the University of Belize and worked as a consultant. A needs assessment for community planning in Belize was conducted by Malaspina Global Studies student Samantha Letourneau in 2006, under Wolfe’s supervision, and she identified Orange Walk Town as a community needing planning assistance.

Geography students are meeting 10 Malaspina tourism students currently in Belize on their own field school led by instructor Aggie Weighill. "We're helping the town of Orange Walk assess the potential for tourism development in the region," said student Dustin Bodnaryk.

“The field school gives students the opportunity to apply tourism and recreation management perspectives, methods and techniques in a field-based research setting."

Eco-adventure and cultural tours will take the group from the Mayan ruins of Tulum in Mexico, to Tikal National Park in Guatemala. They will participate in jungle hikes, a canoe trip, cave tubing and snorkelling at Caye Caulker.