October 28, 2006
Cape Town, South Africa

Today is my last day in South Africa after three and a half weeks of travel. In a mere 43 hours of travel, I’ll be back in Eugene. These past four days in Cape Town have been absolutely terrific. I have been able to connect with Oliver Hagan, an alum of UO who now lives and works in Cape Town and his business partner Sean Walpole. His business is to place students in internships in the Cape Town area and then support them in terms of orientation and living arrangements. When we were first put in contact I thought this might be as perfect a local partner as IE3 could ask for and indeed my thoughts have been confirmed. I had a series of meetings with Volunteer Adventure Corps, the name of Oliver and Sean’s company and we have identified five new opportunities for IE3 interns in Cape Town. The diversity of the sites, which include marine conservation, social services, agriculture, advertising and marketing, coupled with the strong on-the-ground support we will be able to provide students, will, I an convinced, provide a strong hub in Cape Town for interns from a variety of academic backgrounds and with a range of previous travel experience. Oliver and Sean’s experience in Cape Town, as well as their understanding of international student needs and their passion for their work will be a great complement to the strong support that IE3 already provides to its students.

Moreover, Cape Town is truly a beautiful place. The coastal areas along the peninsula remind me of parts of Oregon along route 101, where the sheer cliffs drop off into the ocean leaving spectacular view points along the way. However, unless we have some serious global warming impacts in Oregon, the Cape Town climate is decidedly more tropical and the expensive vacation homes probably outshine even the flashiest ones in the U.S.

I paid the 23 rand ($3) toll one day and drove along the Chapman’s Peak road, probably one of the most breathtaking coastal roads anywhere. As you curve out towards the point, there are spectacular views back across the water to the town of Hout Bay. Parts of the road are literally carved into the side of the cliff with no margin of error on either side of the road. At the other end of the road you arrive at the even smaller town of Noordhoek, which has an incredible white sand beach that is almost as deep as it is long. In the strong beach winds people use large kites to actually lift themselves off the sand and fly several meters at a time. The surf is great, too and so there are plenty of surfers. But being the Atlantic side of the Cape peninsula, wet suits are pretty much a necessity.

Certainly South Africa continues to have its problems. A series of heists of cash transit vehicles is causing an uproar among cash truck drivers. Taxi drivers are also protesting against increasing regulations, which has even led to some strikes and minor violence. And the 14-year-old democracy still struggles to find the right balance between racial inclusion and celebration of cultural and ethnic diversity. But it is making progress. And with the World Cup coming here in 2010, one gets the sense that there is anticipation of the event as an opportunity to further pull the country together, take a leap forward in terms of infrastructure and reintroduce the country on a world stage.

So, after such a long and productive trip, I am looking forward to returning home and getting to work on some of the exciting new opportunities that have begun to develop here and sharing more with you. The diversity, complexity and possibility that is everywhere in South Africa is exciting. But more importantly, it demands our attention and respect. I am personally thrilled that IE3 will now be able to offer students a full range of options to learn from and engage in South Africa’s progress.

Australia Site Visits by Cynthia Engel

October 17-18: International Ocean Institute, Townsville
Almost three weeks have flown by and I am on my second blog posting. Wow. Since I last wrote in, we have flown from Brisbane north to Cairns and then on to Townsville, where I met up with Posa Skelton of the International Ocean Institute. The IOI does some great work pulling together the research and wisdom from ocean and marine researchers globally to outline sound policy and management practices to preserve our oceans. They also coordinate and host workshops around the world to share the knowledge about effectively protecting our oceans while continuing to benefit from their resources as well. Interns at this site will have some great access to world renowned researchers and their research as they assist in articulating sound policy. The site is ready and waiting!

October 18: James Cook University, Townsville
Then it was on to James Cook University where I was able to explore a campus full of eucalyptus and palm trees, kangaroos and wild turkeys. Not to mention the dozens of amazing birds and tropical plants! Meeting with one of our current students studying there was an excellent chance to get the inside scoop on the place. He loves it. I was also able to meet with the exchange program director and resident bird expert.

(Did you know that Bower birds make nests with a certain color to attract females? If they like the color red for example, they collect red bottle tops, straws, plastic wrappers, paper, you name it! You’ll find the collection in a nice pile on the ground around their nest (which is also on the ground). And they’ll spend all day rearranging their little collection of colored treasures to perfect its look.)

October 19-21: Cape Tribulation Research Station, Daintree National Rainforest
Anyway…after a great couple days in Townsville, we hit the road north to Cape Tribulation Research Station, where the rainforest meets the (Great Barrier) reef. Wow. Now that’s a rainforest jungle! We met up with our current intern there who came out to greet us and couldn’t stop saying how much she loves it there! Set in the middle of the rainforest, the research station is completely self sufficient. Bryn showed us to our luxurious cabin and we were given a quick introduction to our potential roommates for the evening…Ms. Cockroach, Mr. Gecko, Mr. Bandicoot, the Cane’s Frogs and a couple noisy night owls. Oh, and even though that sounds like rain on your roof, it’s really just the extreme humidity building up on the jungle leaves and then rolling off their rain folds in the wind. You are really getting away from it all up there…and it was great.
We had an educational visit throughout the region with Bryn as our guide. We went out in the morning with her as she collected specimens for her research project and then she shared impressive amounts of information about the rainforest. We also got to meet the resident flying foxes (batman style bats!) which are incredibly cute and full of personality. Did you know they are the closest living mammal in Australia to humans?!

October 22-23: National Marine Science Center, Coffs Harbour
Whew. Off to Coffs Harbour! I met with a new site – the National Marine Science Center – which is a multi-million dollar, state of the art marine research facility. Students will now be able to work with researchers on a variety of marine and reef projects right on the Great Barrier Reef in a state of the art facility with quality researchers. This is quite an exciting opportunity for students interested in marine and reef ecology! In the process, Alistair (who runs the NMSC) introduced me to Marine Magic Pet Porpoise Pool, who works in partnership with the NMSC, where we hung out with the porpoises and sea lions where they either rehab from injuries or live permanently due to permanent damage. This is yet another new site opportunity for our students who may be interested in business marketing, PR, outreach or animal psychology. A fun opportunity to “swim with the dolphins!”

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the shark!! After taking us to a uniquely Australian “Surf Rescue Life Club” competition where kids of all ages compete in swim life-saving competitions out on the beaches, Alistair then took us snorkeling just off the reef in Coffs Harbour, where I floated several minutes face to face with a shark trying to actually figure out if it was a rock or a creature. You can imagine my reaction when the brain cells finally put two and two together and I concluded it was a shark! After gaining a bit of composure at the surface, I swam over and calmly told Ben (my partner) to come check out this cool “fish” I found. J

October 24: Hunter Valley Gardens, Hunter Valley
OK. So we went from cockroaches and bandicoots in the rainforest to the Napa Valley of Australia in three days. There’s a bit of culture shock for you! But in the process, we have brought another exciting new internship site on board! This is an exciting site because of the extensive diversity of internship opportunities! HVG is a well known, high class resort based in the wine region of Australia. They maintain 800 acres of manicured gardens as well! HVG hosts concerts (Diana Ross is there this week), weddings, conferences and other major events. They also produce wine. Students in horticulture, event and conference management, hospitality and tourism, food and beverage management, marketing and outreach, and even viticulture will find a great internship opportunity waiting for them here! And they get to live in an old villa at the top of a hill in the middle of a vineyard!

OK, I’m signing off for now. I’ll fill you in with more later.
Cheers from the land of OZ!
Cynthia

Durban, South Africa, visit by Chris Bennett, Regional Director

October 21, 2006
Durban, South Africa

My first two days here in Durban it rained almost non-stop. I was worried for a moment that the high concentration of Oregonians here (seven that I know of at the moment) had shifted the global balance and brought the Oregon rains here to Durban instead. Fortunately, it cleared up and now it is the pleasant coastal warmth instead.

I was invited to attend an event sponsored by the Durban University of Technology, launching a new report on the university’s research and community engagement. The premise was to recognize the communities who consent to participate in the research as well as to underscore the need for research to be done with a service to the community in mind. I was quite impressed by this emphasis as the awkward juxtaposition of academia and the urgent needs of South African society. It is one thing to study and research social issues in a university in the U.S. and to try to understand conditions in Africa, but it seems to be quite a different thing to study them in an African university and then to step outside of the school grounds and encounter the very issues you seek to resolve.

It was also excellent to meet up with the four IE3 interns with CFHI in Durban. They are doing pre-medical rotations at a variety of clinics and hospitals in the area and I was able to accompany them to a few of these. While it was terrific to get a sense of their experiences and the places they have been working, it also served to remind me that I am certainly not cut out for a career in the medical field. The way they were able to discuss what they had seen with such a reserved, professional attitude, while I got squeamish at even the mention of some of the things they were encountering.

Sorry this is sort of a short, uninspired entry. I promise the next one will be better!

Cynthia in Oz

CYNTHIA IN OZ

October 14, 2006

Greetings from Down Under!The visit has been great so far with a welcoming visit to O’Reilly’s Rainforest Guesthouse and new site development with the Queensland EPA/ Parks and Wildlife. Visiting the guesthouse was invaluable from a site orientation information perspective and meeting with Tom at Queensland EPA was critical…despite multiple emails sent his way, he has not received any of them. We’re still not sure what’s happening with those, but without a visit, I am pretty sure this new site never would have materialized. Here is a bit more information on each site:O’Reilly’s Rainforest Guest HouseOur sites and interns are indeed alive and well! Bob, currently interning at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Guesthouse in Australia now calls his new apartment in the mountains and rainforests of Australia home. He lives among the Pademelons (small kangaroos), birds, spiders, snakes (among the deadliest in Australia…crikey!) and fig trees atop a mountain in the Green Mountains of east Australia. He has been learning the ropes and is now starting to manage the “Discovery Center” at the renowned eco-resort. Coordinating staff and topics for nature walks, informational talks and hikes throughout the mountains, Bob has been warmly welcomed by his Australian counterparts. He has been studying like crazy to learn everything you could ever want to know about Australian creatures big and small. He can identify bird calls in just a couple notes and will tell you the history of the region as if he were a native. He has passed his first challenge of managing the “Scrub Club” (kids nature walks) and soon hopes to graduate to leading the adult programs as he continues to share management duties in the center. The staff at O’Reilly’s have been pleased with the quality and dedication of our students and look forward to continuing to work with us in the future. We have discussed some approaches to making it easier for both the management and the new intern including setting up a “buddy” program for the newly arrived intern so that they have a connection when they first arrive. The resort is quite isolated and interns have understandably had difficulty at the beginning as they begin to realize how remote they are in the mountains and that visits into town will be few and far between. The isolation, though, is balanced by the camaraderie of the incredibly friendly and supportive staff, almost all of whom live at the resort as well. It was great to see Bob in his element and learn first hand about such a great site.Queensland Parks and Wildlife – NEW SITE!!I managed to schedule a meeting earlier than anticipated with Queensland EPA/ Parks and Wildlife while in Brisbane. The volunteer coordinator is pleased to work with us to provide our university students with opportunities to gain some professional ranger experience in the regional parks or to assist with a variety of research projects spread throughout the state. Project management is relatively decentralized. The central volunteer coordinator maintains a current list of projects on the QP&W website from which our students may choose and the project managers will make the final decisions regarding placement. This will be a great internship for students in life sciences, natural resources, environmental sciences, marine sciences, forestry, tourism and recreation, and parks management. Students will probably have the opportunity to rotate through several projects during the term if they would like to explore several regions of the state. Tom is a jovial man who was excited to find out we were based in Oregon because he purchased his bike from Bike Friday in Eugene! I look forward to seeing how well this site fits our current student needs.That’s all for now. Next week’s highlights include a visit to our intern working at Cape Tribulation Research Station at the far north of east Australia and with the International Ocean Institute in Townsville. I’ll also visit James Cook University and will be visiting another potential new site in Coffs Harbour at the National Marine Science Center.Until then…Cheers,

Cynthia

Pretoria, South Africa, visit by Chris Bennett

Chris
October 13, 2006
Pretoria, South Africa

Pretoria

After the intensity and unfamiliarity of Senegal, I am relieved to be back in the familiar comfort of South Africa, in the midst of a gorgeous southern hemisphere spring, with flowers blooming and all the side streets enveloped by the purple bursts of jacaranda trees.

Jacaranda Trees in full bloom

If Senegal was about discovering a new place for the first time, South Africa, and Pretoria in particular, is about reconnecting with old friends in a new way.

When I first accepted this position earlier this year, the first item on my list of goals was to reconnect with some of the terrific organizations I had the opportunity to work with in my last job with the international development organization Pact. So, my first stop in Pretoria was at IDASA, the Institute for Democracy in South Africa. I have tremendous respect for IDASA and they work they do currently and the substantial role they played in discrediting and helping to dismantle apartheid. They are a diverse and passionate group of people and each one is dedicated to continuing to strengthen the still-nascent South African democracy. Therefore I was very pleased when they agreed without hesitation to accept interns from the IE3 program.

IDASA Headquarters

Perhaps the most exciting connection I have reestablished here, though, is with Professor Tawana Kupe. Tawana was a professor of media studies at the University of Zimbabwe when he supervised my independent study project during my semester abroad in Zimbabwe as an undergraduate. Today, he is head of the school of Languages, Literature and Media Studies at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg (South Africa’s largest English-language university) and is being considered for a position as dean. If accepted, he would become Wits’ first black dean.

Despite having been out of contact for nearly ten years, when I wrote to him before I left for my trip, he remembered me easily and agreed to meet to discuss media internship opportunities with a number of press freedom organizations he works closely with.

As I reestablish these connections that had, in some instances, become dormant, I am reminded of one of the findings of our recent survey of IE3 alumni from our first ten years of internships. The survey revealed that, from a range of common internship goals, the one which was lowest in priority for interns, and which consequently interns were the least successful in achieving, was developing professional networks and remaining in touch with professional contacts made during their internship. Given differences in career and educational paths, not to mention physical distance, it is no surprise that this is a difficult goal to achieve. However, as I reconnect with these contacts from my past, though I have moved on to a new career and continue to live so far away, I am amazed at how easy it is to reestablish ties and to “pick up where one left off.” My experience thus far in South Africa serves as a reminder that, as long as people remember you, there seems to always be a door ajar to reconnect and find new ways to collaborate in pursuit of shared objectives.

Dakar, Senegal

Chris
October 9, 2006
Dakar, Senegal

Ahh, the joy and the terror of encountering a new place. Dakar is intense and arriving here has reminded me that no matter how much you have traveled, there is still plenty out there to discover. Despite my travels throughout Africa, this is my first visit to West Africa, a place I have heard enough about to create some strong mental images but not enough to realize how inaccurate those images would be.

For starters, the heat was overwhelming from the moment I stepped off of the plane at 1:30am. And no kind breeze even attempted to alleviate this. Not exactly what I had expected in a city on a peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic – Africa’s leading finger pointing west. The heat is the kind that doesn’t go away even after sundown. The kind that leaves you dripping wet the moment you step out of the house and makes even a cold evening shower (usually a shocking experience) feel only mildly refreshing. But I am told I picked the wrong time to visit – October is the worst month, both for heat and for humidity. In January, people told me, it gets really cold – all the way down to 70 degrees Fahrenheit!

I also had expectations, for whatever reason, that Dakar would be more cosmopolitan, more fashionable, more “hip.” While I wasn’t able to conduct an exhaustive search in the short time I have been here, I did not locate Dakar’s Rodeo Drive or Fifth Avenue. What I did find was a sensibility in both dress and lifestyle. Sure, there are some really terrific Senegalese outfits, both for women and men (those who know me will have to see my new suit when I get home). But, equally prevalent were simple lifestyles, respect for tradition, warm, familiar greetings and a value in the richness of family and friends.

Perhaps most importantly, though, this was my first visit to a predominantly Muslim country, and in the middle of the month of Ramadan, when observant Muslims fast from sunup to sundown. With all the negative coverage that Islam has been receiving in the media, with implied connections to terrorism and intolerance, I will confess to being a bit wary. Not for my personal safety at all, but about the degree of tolerance I would encounter towards my own religious beliefs and non-observance of the fasting practices of Ramadan. Again, my anxious anticipations proved unfounded as I found people to be completely accepting of my beliefs and interested in sharing theirs as well as learning about mine.

I spent my first day in Senegal visiting the office of GEEP and their partners and I feel even more confident that this will be a great new opportunity for students in the IE3 program. GEEP is doing incredible work supporting reproductive health education clubs and curricula development in secondary schools across Senegal, and also works closely with some community radio stations that will also be able to accept GEEP interns.

GEEP Office in Dakar on the grounds of the Cheikh Anta Diop University

I also had a great visit with one of our longest-standing internship programs, Tostan. This is an incredible organization that works with local communities to teach people about human rights and equip them with the skills and knowledge necessary to address violations of their human rights. There are three IE3 interns there now and I was able to touch base with all of them to see firsthand the great work they are doing.

 

Interns Emily Riley (left, OSU) and Amy Sokal (right, UO) in the Dakar Tostan office, preparing for a trip to Kolda in the south.

 

I also had the privilege of observing a workshop at Tostan’s training facility in Thiès. A group of thirty community leaders from both the Gambia and Somalia had come to learn the Tostan community education method so that they can return to their countries and share it within their communities. With the new Tostan program in the Gambia, Tostan internships will also soon be available to students with no French language ability.

In closing, Senegal has reminded me of the balance that must be struck in advising travelers preparing to go to a place for the first time. While a certain amount of advance information is essential to be sufficiently prepared to function upon arrival, sharing too much in advance can actually diminish the traveler’s experience. There is really nothing that can beat the excitement of gradually building your own understanding of a place while watching all your preconceptions crumble around you.

Waiting for a Plane

Chris
October 5, 2006
Washington, DC

Awaiting my flight to Dakar, I am sitting in the Washington Dulles airport, watching the people around me and wondering about their stories. What sends them to Africa on this day? There are well-dressed South African businessmen returning from business trips. There are retired American couples, presumably headed for high-end safaris. There are development and aid workers, headed to the continent to do their part to try to help resolve the challenges that Africa faces. And a group of missionaries, headed to do their part, too. And there are young people, perhaps headed for semesters abroad, Peace Corps assignments or even international internships.

At the same time, on the CNN airport network Anderson Cooper promotes his week-long special, reporting from Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with accompanying reports from Jeff Koinange in southern Sudan and Dr. Sanjay Gupta in some other desparate African village. The series has some clichéd title like “The Dark Continent” or “The World’s Shame” or “On the Brink of Hell.” The teaser alone is a litany of the ills of the African continent; poverty, disease, war, ethnic struggles, crime, corruption, exploitation and the kicker that seems a part of every news report these days, the “big T” – terrorism. All of these are the reasons that Africa provokes such visceral reactions – of either excitement or horror, but they are also the reason that the continent is so poorly understood.

The Africa of CNN is hardly the same continent I will land on in less than seven hours. My encounters in Africa have largely been characterized by peace, comfort, engaging diversity, cultural richness, natural beauty and the most tremendous graciousness and generosity I have ever encountered anywhere in the world. But surely these positive stereotypes do not serve Africa any better than the negative ones of CNN. The truth is that Africa is a complex place – one that can’t be understood through the blog-style ramblings of a traveler or a series of 10-minute news segments, even if they are broadcast live from a field in Eastern Congo at 4 in the morning.

Instead, to fully grasp this complexity, one must engage with Africa directly. That is why international internships and study abroad are so important – to provide opportunities for us to encounter Africa at a personal level so that we can begin to move beyond the stereotypes. I am excited about this trip and the opportunity it presents to return to a place I know so well to identify new opportunities for others to engage with and better understand a small piece of Africa.

Cynthia in Australia Part III

Cynthia in Australia part III
OK, so I’m clearly not a shining example of daily journaling. But I get to it eventually! I am now home, but want to fill you all in on the last third of the trip…so imagine these are daily entries. Have fun!October 25-26: Canberra
Arrived in Canberra late Tuesday night. It was a spectacular sunset over the western flatlands as we headed south. I had an excellent meeting with Judy at her office in Canberra Wednesday morning where we brainstormed some new options for students in Alice Springs (aboriginal art studies!) and she gathered some contacts for me to connect with CSIRO – the premier national science research organization in Australia. Getting something set up with them would essentially open up the entire continent for our students who are interested in research oriented internships. We’ll see how that goes. I was also able to connect with the national press reviewer about potential journalism internships (I was in the National Press Club building, after all!). Hopefully we can get some journalism going if the papers are open to the idea. She is going to make some first contacts on our behalf. After an energizing meeting, we connected back with Ben and then we were off to see the city.

Judy genuinely loves Canberra and it shows. First stop was one of the best meat pie and sausage roll shops in the city. Mmm. Meat pies. We had a spectacular tour that culminated in hanging out with a bunch of wild kangaroos smack in the middle of the city. Canberra is called the “Bush Capital” (as in wilderness, not G. W.) and after visiting, it’s clear why. The city isn’t all that large and it is surrounded by forests and rolling hills. Getting into the bush is only a few minutes drive or bike ride away. The next morning we snuck in a quick tour of the parliament building before heading out into the farmlands toward Charles Sturt Uni.October 26-27: Wagga Wagga – Charles Sturt Uni and Green Grove Organics
This was an action packed couple days. We met up Thursday night with Nuala Grundy and Barbara Slade, both international programs coordinators at Charles Sturt campuses, and Chris Turner, a former Aussie exchange student to OSU, for dinner at a local pub. Chris has literally just returned from being one of 5 representatives of Australian students at an international conference in Thailand to build international exchange awareness around the world. He and the others are sure he was selected because of his previous exchange to OSU. Our dinner was a great start to an outstanding visit.

For Friday, Nuala had arranged for me to have several individual meetings with teaching faculty throughout the day. I was able to meet with Art, Writing, Business, Education and Environmental Sciences. All of them were quite enthusiastic about sending their students to OSU-Corvallis and Cascades. I was also able to meet with a food science student who has applied to come to Corvallis next year and share a bit about Corvallis. We concluded with a nice lunch with Barbara and Roz, the international programs advisor who works with inbound students (our students)…an incredibly kind and knowledgeable person.

The Wagga Wagga campus is built on a hill and it’s quite bush-like. Lots of eucalyptus trees and a pleasant atmosphere. The buildings are a sort of stucco like architecture with red tile roofing. It would be a great place to go to school. Wagga Wagga is a nice town as well. It felt a lot like Corvallis with a river running through it as well. I took a run along the running trail they have that follows the river…the entire circuit is about 30 km. I ran about 15 km of it over the course of my two days there. Between the uni and the town is a nice nature reserve…full of crows. Hence the name Wagga Wagga – land of many crows. As I went running through there, I began having flashes of Hitchcock’s movie and wondered if I would get out of there alive…no worries, mate!

Friday afternoon, I was able to connect with Green Grove Organics and Junee Licorice and Chocolate Factory for a new internship site. It’s a family run business who has been quite successful in selling their organic licorice all over the country. The place has such a great atmosphere…it’s like you’ve met up with old friends as soon as you have arrived. I was immediately greeted with an organic coke (back to actually using real cocoa beans!) and a sampler of their chocolate covered licorice and raisins. Good stuff. They are enthusiastic about hosting our interns and are almost overflowing with project ideas…including developing the first organic raspberry licorice recipe. Any food science students out there ready for the challenge?? They have been creative in their marketing approach, choosing to go with more of a guerilla marketing strategy that has been working really well so far. They were also the first organic farm in Australia and helped to develop the organic farming standards. Students interested in marketing, food science, organic farming and public relations would be perfect for this site. They are in the process of setting up a new relationship with a major food retailer in the US and are interested in having our interns manage that project as well. I think this will be a really unique internship site that will be lots of fun. Housing and food will be provided…probably in a host family environment given the nature of the business.October 28-29: Melbourne
Now for the long drive to Melbourne. Australia is in it’s 6th year of a draught and it shows throughout the farmlands between Wagga and Melbourne. The sheep and cattle are eating nothing but nubbins of brown grass and the wheat fields are all of one foot tall. It was a sobering thing to see…especially after having recently watched an Inconvenient Truth. The conditions that currently exist now, in October, are as dry as things usually are by the end of summer in February. It’s going to be a long summer if the rains don’t show up soon.
The weekend in Melbourne was a time to catch our breath a bit and experience some of the pre-Melbourne Cup anticipation. The Melbourne Cup is the biggest horse race of the year in Australia and takes place November 7. The state of Victoria has declared that Monday and Tuesday an official holiday, so it’s a major part of the culture. Men get dressed in their best black tie outfits and women go crazy with their hats. It was fun to bear witness to the anticipation and excitement. Melbourne is a cosmopolitan city with lots to do. It’s clean, easy to get around with their tram system and the people are quite friendly for being such a large city.October 30-31: Hobart, Tasmania
We departed Wednesday afternoon for Hobart, Tasmania – our final stop. Hobart is a great port town on the island of Tasmania, which I think is a secret little treasure island. The island has mountain peaks and ocean beaches all within 2-3 hours of each other. It’s still a relatively undeveloped island with lots of wilderness and fresh, clean air. I was able to meet with my contact for internships on Tuesday and he is ready to work with us. He is a consultant who works with the parks agencies and University of Tasmania, so he has connections for virtually any sort of natural resources, tourism and recreation, forestry, environmental science, or life sciences students. There is a lot of potential with this internship…most of them would be customized based on student interests and qualifications. We are also looking into pairing our students with PhD students needing to complete internship projects in Tassie so the two of them can work together. This provides an avenue for our students to connect with peers as well. Examples of some projects include a variety of animal or plant research projects or state parks user surveys to park fee impacts on visitor accessibility. Again, an exciting option for our students!

November 1-2: Exploring Tassie
Our last two days in Tassie were vacation for the two of us. Ben hooked himself up with a wetsuit and surfboard and we headed to the cold coastal waters of Tasmania for some surfing. That’s another little secret about this place – some of the best surfing in the world if you can take the cold. We spent the next day prepping our bags for departure (easier said than done with the US restrictions) and then went hiking up in to the mountains for the afternoon. We saw some spectacular waterfalls and walked through a forest of the tallest hardwood trees in the world. The Redwoods in the US are the tallest softwoods and the Eucalypts in Tasmania are the tallest hardwoods. It was certainly humbling to be wandering among such huge trees.

November 3: Flying home
Not much to report, fortunately. It’s a long flight home from Hobart – 18.5 hours total of air time including internal flights and 36 hours of travel time. Yet we arrived just a few short hours after we left!Overall this was quite a successful trip. It was great for me to visit our existing sites and establish the personal connections with our host site coordinators. And doubling the number of internship sites in Australia was a bonus as well. Now for the getting all those new sites posted on the web and catching up at home… can I go back?!?