Imagine being immersed in a small fishing community on the Pacific coast of the Baja Peninsula. Imagine sleeping in open-air cabins on the edge of the ocean, camping on the beach, collecting food waste for the compost bin, and using the local environment as your classroom. All of these experiences describe my spring break. In March, I packed up and traveled back to The SFS Center for Coastal Studies in Puerto San Carlos, Baja California Sur, Mexico, where I was a student in 2005.
I had always wanted to return because studying abroad there was such an amazing experience! I am currently an elementary science teacher at Charlotte Country Day School in Charlotte, North Carolina. Studying with SFS truly shaped me as a teacher, sparking in me a strong passion to impart a love of learning about environmental issues. It gave me the knowledge and resources to bring field research and environmental studies to life for children of all ages.
My chance to revisit the SFS-Mexico field station came when I received a faculty renewal grant from my school. My goal for the trip was to gather information about the current research projects and to learn how the program has grown or changed since 2005. This information would be useful to me back at school for developing the science curriculum, as well as in my after-school oceanography and environmental club.
I started working on my goal the moment I arrived by talking with the current students, faculty, and staff, who were all so welcoming and eager to share. I learned that the Center has many new projects including a study on octopuses making their homes in discarded soda cans and a mangrove restoration project. Center Director Gustavo Hinojosa has also implemented a staff training program, where he trains the boat drivers and maintenance staff to do field research and collect data. This is a wonderful program because these are local men who can teach others in the community about the Center’s research. All of these new projects not only add to the program for the college students, but they also add to the research program and provide onsite research opportunities for locals.
There are some very exciting environmental sustainability projects happening at the Center now as well. They include collecting food waste for the new compost bin and building a vegetable garden. The pipes in the showers have already been re-worked to collect greywater for use in the garden. Encouraging the use of cloth shopping bags instead of plastic is also a goal, and they have already given away bags to members of the community. Seeing these initiatives in action shows that the Center is still a place where the students and faculty take pride in being stewards of the environment.
Community outreach is still a big part of life at the Center. When I arrived, the annual Whale Festival was taking place in the center of town, and SFS students were slated to do face painting that evening. The students told me about the beach clean-up they had done with local children and about a plan for some of the students to do an environmental education lesson at the high school.
My trip back to the Center was a wonderful learning experience. It gave me a chance to rejuvenate my passion for field research and environmental studies. I gained valuable information about these things that I will be able to use throughout my work educating children. For example, I am currently planning lessons for the ocean unit in first grade, which is about human impacts on the ocean ecosystem. I will be able to add two new lessons about the octopus study and mangrove restoration, and these lessons will be invaluable in presenting the students with "real" research!
The SFS Center for Coastal Studies is a wonderfully peaceful yet active place where students go to follow their passions for environmental studies. It was amazing to be back and see how the program has grown and changed in so many positive ways. Being able to re-connect with the small community and see the research and projects first hand was invaluable to me as an educator, and I can’t wait to share it with my community here at school.
