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

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

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?!?