Exploring new opportunities!

Receiving my acceptance letter into the GFP cohort in March 2018, I knew was my ticket to explore the unknown. However cliche that may sound, it was and is my hope to explore new areas, environmental and nonenvironmental, that I have yet been exposed to. The past 7/8 years of my life have been completely centered around marine science, specifically in the Florida/Caribbean region. The GFP offers incredible opportunities to travel places that I may never go otherwise.

As I fumbled through the online maze of forms, various accounts, and the EE application, my first major decision had to be made by prioritizing Baja or Belize. Both of which appealed to me right off the bat due to their proximity to unique marine habitat. After reading that the Baja trip also offers the opportunity to immerse in the polar opposite ecosystem from the marine, the desert, I had made up my mind.

Learning of my acceptance into the Baja IV (#46) cohort, I did what I would assume everyone else did, I searched for as many pictures and videos that I could to acquaint myself with the adventure that lied in front of me. Spoiler alert, pictures and videos taken by others never do a place justice.

Opening the course reader for the first time, I was graced with articles covering topics like scorpion diversity, cactus biology, and island biogeography. After not being in school for 3 years and coming across these topics, I was excited to once again learn. While not everything we learned from the Baja experience was brand new to me. For an example, the major theme of the trip, Field Methods, is a field that I am very comfortable with. This is where my drive to experience something new came from.

We arrived in San Diego, met up in the lobby of a hotel and were mentally prepped for Baja by Lane, who we later learned is a legend. We jumped into two vans packed with everything we needed for our week in Baja. I think I reached my peak curiosity level once we reached the border into Mexico. This peak level did not fall from there. My peak curiosity plateaued from there.

Typically, you’d hear the words “6-hour car ride” and immediately feel overwhelmed and significantly less excited about what’s to come. NOT THIS TIME! Even if I was forced to keep my mouth shut, not socialize, and look out the window for the entire ride, I’d be completely fine. This was because of completely unique and new territory I was entering. Up until this point, I had never seen a real desert.

>>Fast forward to the ranch>>

We arrived after a long trek from San Diego! After a tour of the facilities and getting settled with our bags etc., we had some spare time to EXPLORE, and so I did. There was this steep bouldery hill that butted right up to the ranch. This hill was screaming at me to climb it. A small group of us ventured as high as we could in the time we had. 

It was during the rest of the time at the ranch that I fully embraced what the desert had to offer. From the multiple scorpion expeditions to the ethnobotany cactus tour with Rafael, the desert was full of mysterious oddities that would captivate any audience.

After a couple of days in the desert, we packed up and headed east. We were bound for the coast, Bahia de los Angeles. With a brief pit stop, requiring a pit crew to change a flat tire, I could feel a healthy level of anxiety rise as we drew nearer to the coast. This I’m sure was due to my affinity for the ocean as well as the allure of what lurks in the bay (don’t say the “W” word). Right away, I drew similarities to The Bahamas, yet there were so many differences. The horizon was interrupted by these tall mountainous islands that dotted the bay.

I think most would agree that I came into my own and was in my element while we were on the coast. I cannot express how much I enjoyed sharing what I knew about marine life while also learning from such passionate people like Meghann about the marine life of Bahia.

The list of new experiences, new friends, and new species from this trip is endless. It will be hard to beat the experience I had on Baja #46.