Gone to the Galápagos
Students pose before one of their daily snorkeling trips in the cold Humboldt current. Pictured are: Bottom row (left to right): Brian Mata ’03, Kris Kane ’04, Erik Lovria ’03;
Middle row (left to right): Robin Cook ’03, Michelle Miller ’03, Nisha DeSouza ’04, Robin Culp ’02, Amanda Larracuente ’03, Katie Battaglia ’02, Chris Casacci ’04, Anastasia Galitsky ’04, Shelley Dus ’04;
Top row (left to right): Peter Kalenda ’02, Jeffrey Parobechek ’03, Erica Turner ’02, Adrienne Vargo ’03
Dateline: Ecuador. . . Dr. Sara Morris, assistant professor of biology, and 16 of her students traveled to the Galápagos Islands to study its ecosystem. The Special Topics in Natural History class spent two weeks during Christmas break studying various aspects of the evolution and ecology of the islands, including the basics of natural selection, thermoregulation, adaptive radiation, competition and the natural history of various organisms including the Blue-footed Booby Bird and the Galápagos Tortoise.
Peter, a Galapagos-licensed guide, teaches the students how to identify different species of rays, a group of fish. On the island the group saw manta rays, eagle rays, cow rays and stingrays.
"
 |
| The Blue-footed Booby Bird (pictured) is one animal the students saw while touring the islands. A native to the Galápagos, the bird is very tame and lacks the fear instinct of other birds. The female is white and brown and the male is white, brown and blue. |
I feel very fortunate that Canisius and the Oishei Foundation allowed me to take students to the Galápagos Islands to study natural history," said Dr. Sara Morris. "The wildlife of the islands has never developed a fear of humans, so we were literally only a few feet away from animals that many people will never have a chance to see. It was extremely gratifying to watch the students' excitement when seeing the islands, volcanoes, plants, animals, and behaviors which we studied before the trip."
While on tour, the students kept detailed field journals that included information about the locality, weather, organisms and behaviors of the animals observed on the islands. This semester the students will prepare Web pages detailing their Galápagos experience. NetGazette will let you know when the student Web pages are launched on www.canisius.edu.
This trip was made possible through the Canisius College Oishei Professorship Program, which is funded by the John R. Oishei Foundation.