Center for Rainforest Studies
September 25, 2007
Academic and Student News
It has only been one week since the students arrived but it has been a busy one! They all handled the 9,000 miles of jet-
lag stupendously as we went full speed ahead with orientation. We gave them a tour of the Center, a walk through the property, and told them all about the plant and animal creatures of the rainforest that they should look out for. On Saturday, interns Ian and Carter led the students on an orienteering exercise. They learned how to read the compass and topographical maps in order to navigate through some of the wilderness on site. They also learned the Australian protocol for treating a snake bite in the very unlikely event someone is bitten. In the afternoon, we went to Lake Eacham, one of the local crater lakes. The students took a swim test and then had some much deserved rest and relaxation. Some walked the trek around the lake and sighted a carpet python. Carpet pythons are very common to the local area and are not venomous.
This week, the field work began in earnest. Today, we set up fences and traps in two rainforest fragments. A few hours later when we checked the traps there were seven skinks (small lizards) which were measured and their species identified. Students are also busy learning bird calls, which they will have to know for the bird quiz coming up. All in all a great week and a promising start to a new semester. Cristina Liberati, Student Affairs Manager
Meet the Students!
Student Reflections
Our story began with our arrival at the remote Center for Rainforest Studies. Although some students had arrived at a 
different time, the entire group made it safely to the Center by the second day. Despite coming from different places across the U.S., we've managed to create a sense of community in less than a week's time. By the fourth day, it was clear that there was no longer a need for icebreaker games, our group had taken the lead of getting to know one another through activities like morning runs, around the world ping pong, salsa dancing, and hoola-hooping. Indeed, one of the most unifying activities, thus far, was the voluntary hike to the Cathedral Strangler Fig. Curious and excited, SFS students gathered at 9:00am Sunday morning to take the well-known hike. After meeting up with Christina and Carter, we hiked approximately 1.5 hours to the tree, where we gathered to take group pictures and admire the tree's size. The day ended with a wonderfully cooked meal by Cabin 1 and fresh-baked cookies by a number of students. As surreal as this may sound, Sunday was a culmination of new friendships and an optimistic three months to come. Jessica Wong, University of Southern California
Fourteen hours on a plane
Seven days we had no rain
So tired we had to mumble
As we crawled into the jungle
With brush turkeys we are living
We will catch one for Thanksgiving
Birds they wake us up at dawn
Lunch by noon or food is gone
For venomous snakes we are wary
So ace bandages we do carry
We avoid the heart shaped leaves
They belong to stinging trees
Unless your name is Cody (we do not think he's sane)
He grabbed a stinging tree and now deals with the pain
The trees here are so big
But nothing compares to Cathedral Fig
This poem I could not write
Without help it would take all night.
Sarah Bernstein, Sonoma State University
After a lengthy series of flights (the final one, albeit, featuring a beautiful view of the turquoise-and-gold Australian 
coast), we arrived at our home for the next three months—a small campus in the middle of the rainforest—a bit disoriented. To orient ourselves with the culture of northern Queensland and the Atherton Tablelands, we split into groups for a field trip to some of the local towns and villages. My group went to Yungaburra, a village of about two thousand people. We quickly discovered that while much has changed in Yungaburra's 117 years—timber-clearing has made way for dairy, and tourism now is the main industry—the slow pace and friendliness of country living has not. A village postman, who's lived there for 27 years, told us that no one locks their doors, and no one's in too much of a hurry to stop and chat. We also learned that the town just began a full-scale recycling program. This was interesting: The people here have taken down a lot of this rainforest, but they now also care about reversing that process. It can happen here, it can happen anywhere. We suddenly felt at home. Eric Braden, Texas Tech University