Why Bat Wrestling can Enhance Ecological Teaching
Added to website: 06 January 2005
With ever increasing opportunities to work abroad it has never been better to put what you have learnt in to action or relate your achievements to students that you are teaching. Science has always fought a battle against bad publicity but an experience in the field can change all perceptions.
These are just some of the comments that I was greeted with when I started out helping to teach science at a Saturday school for disadvantaged kids.
‘Biology is boring’
‘Science sucks’
‘Scientists are spods’
I had my response planned.
I asked them how many of them have swum with pink dolphins in the Amazon (and did they know they get pinker when they get older?); dived with sharks off the coast of Mexico (and did you know that 22 million are fished each year?); wrestled with meter long bats in the jungles of South East Asia (and the smallest bat also lives in South East Asia and weighs no more than a penny piece?). No I am not Indiana Jones but just a committed environmental scientist working for an NGO.
It was easy to catch the imagination of younger children but for the older ones there is the promise of sharing in some of these experiences and enjoying the immense satisfaction that comes from contributing even in some small way to environmental project work.
There are projects going on worldwide ranging from turtle hatchery research in Costa Rica, biodiversity assessments of rainforest fragments in the Philippines, coral reef conservation on the Meso American Barrier Reef, mammal photo trapping in the lowland forests of South East Asia and community environmental education in the Andes of South America. For me I have been lucky to work on sustainable development projects in remote communities in the Baobab country of West Africa; survey river dolphins in tributaries of the Amazon; develop alternative farming practises in the mangrove swamps of Ecuador; and assess and see some of the most critically threatened species in South East Asia.
In fact there has never been more opportunity as the GAP year phenomenon grows apace and additional projects are becoming more open to people of different ages, experience and education levels. There can be little more rewarding than the first hand experience of contributing positively to the conservation and preservation of endangered habitats and the experiences of actually doing so impresses upon the mind the reality of the environmental issues which are discussed almost daily in our national and international press.For interested students these present a fascinating way to develop and use the skills that have been learnt at schools. It is seen too often that a more practical approach to biology and the related sciences are lacking. By volunteering on environmental projects students not only get to develop their practical skills but also learn how these skills are related to the world about them. Ecology is known to be difficult to visualise, with ecosystems, pyramid of numbers, casual links and interrelationships to name but a few. Practical approach and assisted research (as seen on some of the projects) can demonstrate to students not only in a ‘hands on’ sense but also the implications of such complex relationships.
There has not been one student that I have worked with in the field that has not expressed excitement of the first trip in to a rainforest, or of their first trapped mammal or of their first interaction with communities that rely so heavily on natural resources. Working on projects provides adventure, the expansion of scientific knowledge as well as seeing how your results could change a community or save a threatened species.
For teachers to have had this experience and relate it back to the classroom not only gives a more visual picture of what ecology can achieve but also shows how one person can make a difference and that science, ecology, education is not about just theory but about making a contribution to our world and to our future.
Coral Cay Conservation is just one company that provides opportunities to work along side trained scientists to conduct research on both tropical rainforest and coral reef ecology. The biological and ecological data gathered by volunteers has contributed to the creation of a World Heritage Site on the Great Atlantic Barrier Reef, supporting additional ventures of World Heritage site creation (Tobago Keys), creation of Marine and Wildlife Parks (Danjugan Island, Philippines) and laying down the foundations to support many more conservation initiates. It does not stop there, community educations projects, poverty alleviation schemes and alternative livelihood strategies are all something that as a volunteer on site you will be able to become involved in.
Working on projects such as these can make a difference. As a student they present a wonderful learning experience, a real adventure and a real input in to making a difference. As a teacher these projects can home your skills, enhance your enthusiasm and bring a colourful picture of ecological activities in to the classroom. This is why I believe that whatever your experience, whether bat wrestling or mammal catching, it is the experience itself that matters. Projects like these are invaluable; not only do they change your life but the lives of so many others.
Alexia Tamblyn
Terrestrial Projects Co-ordinator
