One of the boys in my year posted a Facebook status earlier this week simply saying:
“Update: Not dead yet.”
This might seem a bit weird to most of you, but for us, while the status was aimed to be funny, it was actually quite reassuring. He, along with several other third years, are currently in Columbia on the Neotropical Rainforests field course, so this update let us all know that they are all alive and well, and no doubt having an amazing time in the rainforest!
This trip is based on students completing research projects in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in the rainforest, for example doing studies on soil biology, and measuring abiotic and biotic controls on phytoplankton in floodplain lakes (a very brief summary of activities).
If the rainforest isn’t for you, and you prefer somewhere a bit more civilised and less full of bugs, you can always choose to go on the Californian Drylands field trip. This is a follow up on the geomorphology module in year 2, and the 10-day November field trip to the Mojave Desert is designed to broaden your knowledge in the geomorphology of dryland environments. Assessment is hands-on, being comprised of landscape mapping and interpolation in the field, and a follow up report completed upon return to Lecester.
For the BA Geographers, a great field trip opportunity is held around Easter, where each year a group of students visit Kenya. The trip involves staying with local communities, and aims for students to gain a deeper understanding of the nature and limitations of conservation and development practices, as well as discussing local resistance and activism and critiquing the politics of ‘development’ in Kenya.
These trips offer opportunities to complete hands on field work in some amazing parts of the world, and the trips in first and second years prepare you well for them, which is a great part of the geography course at Leicester. I’ll write more about the other field trips we go on later in the year!
In the meantime, I hope all the new Geographers have enjoyed their first week!
Subscribe to Connie's posts
Good post! We will be linking to this particularly great content on our site. Keep up the good writing.