Academic Update
Here on South Caicos, not only do students learn inside the SFS classrooms, but more importantly, the interactive studies in the water itself. In order to identify the organisms in the surrounding sea, we first learned how to identify organisms which belong to mangrove and seagrass habitats, and which fish are found on coral reefs. The identification exams for those classes took place in the water – students were shown a random selection of organisms and asked to write down their scientific names on underwater slates.

Last week we moved on to identifying corals and coral reef invertebrates, starting with a lecture on coral biology and ecology. We then presented a slideshow of the common corals and invertebrates around South Caicos and how to identify them in the field. Due to stormy weather we had to be flexible with our field sessions and postpone them twice, but got them all done before the exam. We have been to two different snorkel sites which are habitats for different types of soft and hard corals. Unaware of the fact that we were studying corals, even a sea turtle showed up and attracted the students’ attention.

With all the knowledge of the organisms that inhabit the sea around us, everybody is well prepared now to go back into the water and collect data in the field.
- Dr. Annemarie Kramer, Lecturer in Marine Ecology

Student Reflections
A rewarding part of living here on South Caicos is interacting with the local community members. Every Wednesday and Saturday the SFS students participate in Community Engagement. On Wednesdays, one of the options is to go the local primary school and help out with the students, who are between five and eleven years old. For the past three weeks, the children have been running track and field relay races outside of the school. My favorite part is keeping the children organized and having fun playing and laughing with them. They are delightful little children who are always full of wonder and excitement. Simple items such as watches, bracelets, sunglasses, and cameras fascinate them, and they are constantly full of questions. Every week that we go to the school we are greeted by a crowd full of little smiling faces and plenty of hugs. I look forward to seeing the children every week, and they are always eager to see us as well.

Every Saturday afternoon the doors to the center are opened, and members of the community are welcomed inside to participate in activities such as swimming lessons, computer lessons, English as a Second Language, and arts and crafts. The local community members are always friendly and enthusiastic, interacting with everyone at the center. I know that many of my fellow classmates enjoy the wide variety of engagement opportunities, and this is one of the unique aspects of the SFS that we all love dearly.
-Jillian Price, University of New Hampshire

It is safe to say that the 28 SFS students in South Caicos were drawn to the SFS Marine Resource program due to the potential opportunities of participating in hands-on research and fieldwork. This past week was particularly exhilarating as we were all introduced to the Directed Research projects that will begin mid-April. This semester, projects range from assessing juvenile lobster habitats to looking at the topographic complexity of coral reef habitats and studying the effects of one of TCI’s most invasive species, the lionfish, to delving deeper into life as a "belonger" (local) and fisherman. After these projects were presented in detail, students were abuzz with anticipation regarding which project they wanted to work on. Each student was given the opportunity to write a justification to increase their chances of being chosen for the research team that corresponded with the project they were most interested in. The week passed and Directed Research groups were compiled and announced, resulting in a group of quite excited SFS students. Everyone is thrilled with their assignments and quite excited to get started on their projects come April!

Living on South Caicos has certainly been a life changing experience and more rewarding than I was ever expecting. It’s hard to believe that we have been here for a month now. I know we are all wishing that we could slow down time just a little bit, but in the meantime we are going to enjoy every second!!
-Kelly Meyers, Dickinson College

Previous Page    Back to Turks and Caicos News Archive 2010    Next Page