Intrepid trio tell of exotic adventures
08 May 2013
Three zoology students have been revealing what life is like on placement in two of the world’s most exotic locations, as part of their studies at the Faculty of Life Sciences.
Rachel Kwok, Kathryn Machin and Tamara Williams have been blogging about their experiences in the Seychelles and the Ecuadorian rainforest.
Tamara is staying at the University’s research station deep in Ecuador’s rainforest. She spends a lot of her time chasing frogs as part of a biodiversity study. But when she gets a break she describes her favourite time of day in the early evening.
“It’s finally cool enough to be comfortable, and the nocturnal creatures begin their nightly cacophony of calls, while the setting sun paints the trees with an orangey incandescence. If you consider a tropical rainforest to be perfection then this is close.”
Rachel and Kathryn are staying on different islands in the Seychelles, where telling the world about their work can be tricky, as Kathryn explains: “Recently an anchor ripped through a deep sea cable and took away the only connection we had to life outside for a few too many weeks!”
When not sitting on a beach, the pair spend their time monitoring turtles and looking for new species. Writing about her time on Silhouette Island, Rachel says: “Searching for new species was an amazing experience, and allowed us to see large parts of pristine jungle, away from manmade trails. I had so much fun, which wasn’t even ruined by the fact that I had a rather serious clothing crisis, in the form of my trousers deciding to entirely fall to pieces!”
The valuable experiences the students are gaining as field scientists will enhance their final year studies and help boost their chances of gaining work in their chosen field after graduation.
- You can read more about the students’ adventures at: Manchester Scientists Castaway
- Tamara has also written a piece for The Independent