I finally finished all of my papers so now all I have left to do is study for my exam that’s on Monday! Good thing too, because today I leave for my Forest Ecosystem Science field trip for the weekend. I’m bringing as much study material as I can so that I am prepared for my mid semester exam on Monday, but I am very excited to see what this weekend holds. He hasn’t given us a lot of information other than where we are going, where we are staying and how to get there. Many and I have to take an hour and half train to the pick up location, since everyone else in the class already is down there for another class. Then it’s a three-hour drive to Bateman’s Bay. Everyone in all my classes has been saying it’s a great place to go and visit, and really great for the beach and hiking. We are staying in these really nice cottages right one the beach, and apparently they have a kangaroo that just hangs out there.
I have all my field clothes packed and ready to go and I’m so excited to finally get to do some fieldwork here in Australia. I’m excited for hiking and exploring and attempting to identify some of the 700+ species of eucalyptus. While there is no assignment for this trip, I am looking forward to learning as much as I possibily can while there. I feel like everyone learns better out in the field, where you get to experience what its like to do, what you learn in class, and apply that all to the field. Hopefully, as an environmental science major, I will get to do that all the time when I finish my degree.
The first night we get there, it will mostly be just unpacking and making dinner. Our professor is so nice and bringing all the food we will need to cook for the weekend. His only condition is that we help cook! I’m excited to also bond with the rest of the class during this entire experience. The second day is actually going out into the field and we will be stopping at certain parts during the hike to discuss some of the lecture material that applies! Overall it seems like it will be an exciting and great learning experience to see Australian fieldwork for both of us!
