Part of my commitment to student education is offering multiple high impact practices for students. Traveling to another country builds and gives students experiences they might not otherwise have at the UW-Whitewater campus. I have designed two travel studies to Panamá, in 2018 and most recently in 2024. Below are some pictures from both travel studies.

2024 Travel Study

Over the 2024 spring break I took 13 undergraduate students to the rainforests and reefs of Panamá. Students immediately noticed the lack of rain and how dry the rainforest was during our 10 days. They learned about the current drought that Panama is experiencing first hand and how this affects the wildlife. We visited the Guna Yala and spent 3 days snorkeling the relatively pristine reefs. However, given the El Niño event, students witnessed first hand the beginning of the 2024 global bleaching event and how warm the waters are.

2018 Travel Study

Over the 2018 – 2019 winter break I took 16 undergraduate students to Panama. The course focused on tropical conservation and students immediately saw the impact that we have on secondary and primary rainforests. We partnered with Yaguará Panamá, Rick Morales, and Alvaro Perez to track Jaguar movement through a specific part of the Chagres National Park. By donating multiple camera traps naturalists were able to set them up before we arrived and then we hiked 10 miles into primary rainforest and collected pictures to determine any large animal movement. The night picture of Agua Blanca (jaguar) is a young female that we captured on camera traveling in the Chagres.