TeamAmazonPeru/SpringbrookStudents
Donation protected
We, the students of Springbrook High School, would be tremendously honored and thankful if we could count on your financial support for our fundraising campaign. The campaign will enable seven of us to defray the cost of a two week educational expedition along the Amazon River in Peru from June 26 - July 11, 2015.
Springbrook High School has teamed up with Operation Wallacea, a UK-based organization that funds international teams of scientists that conduct biodiversity research programs in various sites around the globe, including but not limited to the Peruvian Amazon, Madagascar, the reefs of Indonesia, and South Africa. These expeditions are designed with specific wildlife conservation aims in mind - from identifying areas needing protection and implementing and assessing conservation management programs.
http://opwall.com/
http://youtu.be/PiR-C0eVXfI
This two-week excursion will take us to the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, which is the second largest protected area in Peru, spanning over 20,000 km of tropical rainforest that has remained undisturbed and pristine for centuries. We will be accompanied and chaperoned by two faculty members from Springbrook's Science Department, Dr. Virgina Folsom and Mechande Manning, and by former Springbrook Science teacher and environmental biologist Diane Niedzialkowski.
Our accommodations will be on board the Rio Amazonas research ship, where students and teachers will share a cabin large enough to facilitate 6-10 people with ceiling fans! On board the Rio Amazonas, there are shower and toilet facilities as well as power sources for charging electronic devices.
http://youtu.be/PiR-C0eVXfI
There are three fundemental objectives of the research program: The first is to collect data on the sustainability of forest resources used by the Cocama Indian Nation within the reserve. The second is to provide information on the impact of climate change and human-caused disturbances in the Amazon. The second objective is made possible by ongoing and long-term datasets that are gathered using standardized methods and efforts. Third, students and faculty will complete an Amazonian Wildlife and Conservation course and will complete research in order to make a presentation on one of a series of Amazonian related research topics.
http://youtu.be/COvMfeCCnGk
Students will be seperated into two small groups that will examine biodiversity monitoring, where we will participate in data entry over the two week trip.
Faculty and students will examine primates, large mammals and game bird transects. Census trails between 2-3km in length will be surveyed repeatedly at each of the sites. Information registered on a census includes: Date, site, species, the number of individuals and the perpendicular distance from the individual organism to the transect line and distance travelled.
Methods and theories behind distance sampling will be explained to students and they will be taught how to recognize different species based on main identifying features. Students will also learn to apply capture and release practices. Students will perform fish surveys, habitat surveys and night time caiman surveys. Other organisms that we will examine and monitor include macaws, river dolphins and wading birds.
This two week educational expedition along the Amazon River is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will surely be a fantastic opportunity for all who participate. It is one in which we hope to discover, cultivate and expand our knowledge both personally and academically.
With your financial support, we will be able to further extend our knowledge of various organisms and species while in their natural habit and enhance the classroom knowledge we are learning this 2014-2015 school year. We are depending on your help and financial backing with this undertaking. Would you please consider making a finacial contribution today?
How Your Donation Helps:
A donation of $300 supports one student for one day in the rainforest.
A donation of $30 supports one hour of research for a student in the rainforest.
A donation of $15 supports one half hour of research for one student.
However, any amount that you can give will greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Springbrook Students:
Jake and Hayley, 10th grade
Mekhi and Gee, 11th grade
Zoe and Yoseph, 12th grade
Jordan, 2014 Springbrook graduate
Teachers:
Virginia Folsom
Mechande Manning
Diane Niedzialkowski
Springbrook High School has teamed up with Operation Wallacea, a UK-based organization that funds international teams of scientists that conduct biodiversity research programs in various sites around the globe, including but not limited to the Peruvian Amazon, Madagascar, the reefs of Indonesia, and South Africa. These expeditions are designed with specific wildlife conservation aims in mind - from identifying areas needing protection and implementing and assessing conservation management programs.
http://opwall.com/
http://youtu.be/PiR-C0eVXfI
This two-week excursion will take us to the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, which is the second largest protected area in Peru, spanning over 20,000 km of tropical rainforest that has remained undisturbed and pristine for centuries. We will be accompanied and chaperoned by two faculty members from Springbrook's Science Department, Dr. Virgina Folsom and Mechande Manning, and by former Springbrook Science teacher and environmental biologist Diane Niedzialkowski.
Our accommodations will be on board the Rio Amazonas research ship, where students and teachers will share a cabin large enough to facilitate 6-10 people with ceiling fans! On board the Rio Amazonas, there are shower and toilet facilities as well as power sources for charging electronic devices.
http://youtu.be/PiR-C0eVXfI
There are three fundemental objectives of the research program: The first is to collect data on the sustainability of forest resources used by the Cocama Indian Nation within the reserve. The second is to provide information on the impact of climate change and human-caused disturbances in the Amazon. The second objective is made possible by ongoing and long-term datasets that are gathered using standardized methods and efforts. Third, students and faculty will complete an Amazonian Wildlife and Conservation course and will complete research in order to make a presentation on one of a series of Amazonian related research topics.
http://youtu.be/COvMfeCCnGk
Students will be seperated into two small groups that will examine biodiversity monitoring, where we will participate in data entry over the two week trip.
Faculty and students will examine primates, large mammals and game bird transects. Census trails between 2-3km in length will be surveyed repeatedly at each of the sites. Information registered on a census includes: Date, site, species, the number of individuals and the perpendicular distance from the individual organism to the transect line and distance travelled.
Methods and theories behind distance sampling will be explained to students and they will be taught how to recognize different species based on main identifying features. Students will also learn to apply capture and release practices. Students will perform fish surveys, habitat surveys and night time caiman surveys. Other organisms that we will examine and monitor include macaws, river dolphins and wading birds.
This two week educational expedition along the Amazon River is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will surely be a fantastic opportunity for all who participate. It is one in which we hope to discover, cultivate and expand our knowledge both personally and academically.
With your financial support, we will be able to further extend our knowledge of various organisms and species while in their natural habit and enhance the classroom knowledge we are learning this 2014-2015 school year. We are depending on your help and financial backing with this undertaking. Would you please consider making a finacial contribution today?
How Your Donation Helps:
A donation of $300 supports one student for one day in the rainforest.
A donation of $30 supports one hour of research for a student in the rainforest.
A donation of $15 supports one half hour of research for one student.
However, any amount that you can give will greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Springbrook Students:
Jake and Hayley, 10th grade
Mekhi and Gee, 11th grade
Zoe and Yoseph, 12th grade
Jordan, 2014 Springbrook graduate
Teachers:
Virginia Folsom
Mechande Manning
Diane Niedzialkowski
Organizer
Mechande Manning
Organizer
Silver Spring, MD
