Hola from Ecuador!
My name is Margaret Maurer, and I am a rising senior majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and minoring in Spanish. I have been studying abroad in the capital city of Quito this semester, and my adventure isn’t ending any time soon. I will be spending this summer in the coastal province of Manabí, where the Pacific Ocean meets the lush green of Ecuador’s tropical lowlands.
While incredibly beautiful and diverse, this region is also incredibly threatened—less than 2% of the original tropical dry forest of the Pacific coast is left. One organization, one family, and one conservation agreement are working to protect 200 hectares of this tropical dry forest and all of the biodiversity they contain: the Lalo Loor Dry Forest Reserve is a cooperation between the Loor family and the Ceiba Foundation for Tropical Conservation, a non-profit organization working for the rehabilitation and protection of this highly threatened habitat. Their mission is to sponsor research, educate the public, and support community-based actions that promote the conservation of ecosystem integrity and biodiversity. I will be contributing to this goal through an internship focused on studying the reserve’s howler monkey population and roadkill dynamics, and by creating educational resources in Spanish for community members. I have developed five learning objectives to guide my experience this summer:
– Gain professional ecological fieldwork experience
– Improve my leadership and communication abilities
– Deepen my knowledge of Spanish and Ecuadorian culture
– Understand new perspectives on ecological conservation
– Learn about the ecology of the tropical dry forest and its threats
These objectives will come together to support my ultimate goals: to experience and contribute to the field of conservation biology in its most immersive and dynamic form, and to gain experience in community empowerment, organization, and sustainability. In addition, I am looking forward to exploring what it means to be a woman involved in conservation biology. Just as ecological diversity is critical to the health of an ecosystem, the more human diversity seated around the conservation discussion table, the more healthy, inclusive and effective solutions can emerge. By participating in this internship, by taking a seat at the table, I will represent the NCI’s mission of educating undergraduate women to lead in a complex, modern world where too frequently, especially in the sciences, the voices of undergraduate women are not heard.
I have been preparing for this experience by visiting Manabí province and by conducting my own background research—not surprisingly, spending time on pristine beaches and reading up on my passions has me wildly excited for this summer. I am looking forward to developing myself as a student of biology, a leader, and my identity as a woman, and seeing where the next eight weeks take me.