A dozen Â鶹ÊÓƵAPK students contributed to ongoing research on giant tortoise migration and environmental sustainability in the Galápagos Islands during a May term class called Galapagos: Island Ecology.
During the two-week study-away course, undergraduate and graduate students conducted giant tortoise research, completed microplastics inventories and learned about sustainable education and tourism through the Charles Darwin Research Station.
Students represented a range of disciplines and programs. They included pre-licensure teachers from the School of Education and Leadership, graduate students in the Natural Sciences and Environmental Education program, and undergraduates majoring in environment and climate studies, biology and creative writing.
"Hearing the data about microplastics was important and informative," said Kelly Kaczek, '26. "When we got out in the field and actually sifted through the sand on the beautiful beach on Isabella Island, it just became so real, and not just 'data' or numbers we hear."
Kaczek was grateful for the opportunity.
"I knew it was changing me, and I know it is experiences like the ones I was having that can change others too, Kaczek said. "I have been physically, emotionally, and psychologically changed for the better.
“The Galapagos experience reinforced my belief that education is most powerful when it engages the mind, body and heart."