University of Wisconsin–Madison

Belize: Erin Torpy

Program: Ceiba Coral Reef Ecology in Belize, Summer

Erin’s Major: Microbiology

Island source of fresh coconuts!
Island source of fresh coconuts!

Describe your internship, research, or fieldwork and how the experience helped advance your career or studies.

My research was on Fire Coral overgrowth of Gorgonians in the coral reef environment. I think this really helped me understand how marine research is conducted because of the process we went through to get our data and all the communication we did about our research. I think the experience also helped me develop my reasoning skills for research, because there are so many caveats to coral reef ecology that there was a lot to explore with our results.

How will your experience benefit you in the future?

I think my experience will certainly benefit my future because of all the friends I made along the way, and what I’ve learned about coral reefs and jungle ecology. My interests lie in microbial ecology and environmental remediation, but this is also related to the ecology of the environment itself, like the vulnerable coral reefs or jungle, and it was great to learn about those on top of what I’ve learned about microbes.

I learned how much being in a different place can affect your perspective and increase your understanding of how big and full the world actually is.

Glow worms spawning after the full moon at night look just like stars in the ocean.
Glow worms spawning after the full moon at night look just like stars in the ocean.

What challenges or barriers did you face as you prepared to go abroad and/or during your time abroad? How did you work through them?

The biggest barrier for me was traveling for the first time, but planning the plane flights with other students and also getting support from the professors gave me the confidence to continue and make it through. There was also quite a bit of adjustment to life at Glover’s, but being able to talk to the other students and get their support helped me through that journey.

What is your advice for someone considering your program?

The program is an amazing opportunity! However, you should definitely take the time to prepare and pack for staying on an island for 10 days, as you don’t want to be in want of something you didn’t bring! You should also be prepared for the fast-paced environment in the beginning online portion, as it is a lot of work in a short amount of time! You will make so many friends and meet people on the program; be sure to bring a camera!