"Lions, and Tigers, and Bears...Oh My"

Although first read in Graduate school, I now have reason to reread and reflect on the writing of Thomas Belt's, The Naturalist in Nicaragua, one of the greatest record of the tropics of more than 100 years.  I am encouraging our students to really focus on this work as we travel from ecosystem to ecosystem for two reasons.  First to see examples of excellent descriptions of plants and animals and what these organisms are doing, and realize that this text represents his travel journal, thus a product of leisurely travel.  Keep in mind that Belt was an engineer and his precise descriptions have been the starting point for serious scientific work in ecology and evolution, which was not his field of expertise.  This brings me to my second reason for having students read Belt's documentation of Nicaragua in the 1800's.  As we take notes in our journals ask yourself  if what we are recording will be what students in the next century will want to know about Nicaragua, and the details of it's people and natural resources.  Can we contribute to Belt's legacy and help develop a timeline of documented change or will our time here contribute to the gap of global knowledge that exists today regarding tropical biology?

Our day in the field was so rewarding for me, not so much because of the tropical species I witnessed and can add to my life list, but because students I had in Bio100 (WCSU's non-major science course) could make connections between what they were observing and theories we had discussed in class!  Ideas of symbiosis between organisms, defense strategies in organisms, and intra-species behavior.  Conversations about introduced species and habitat destruction.  Conversations about water, sunlight, soil, and ecosystems.  I am watching biology majors touch, hear, and see the world around them and the depth of their ideas of how the natural world functions.  Exciting to think where these young minds can take me.  What a refreshing way to observe students learn!