Meet Dorian

Excitement for the Journey Ahead

The first day of a class is always the most nerve-racking. During the class you call several things into question; the other students, the professor, the direction of the class, and the homework. But as I entered the classroom for the Makengue Project a new feeling swept over me; Excitement. When I walked into the classroom it finally hit me that in two short months I would be at the  Makengue Reserve in Nicaragua. The Makengue Project consists of two months of independent research, which is structured around a research proposal that was created by former students. As a class of 12 students, we will create different collaborative work projects that cover different areas of the research proposal.

Currently our three work projects are the BioBlitz, Trail Building and working with the local youth leaders of ProJoven. I am interested in creating a work project that incorporates the finding of the BioBlitz and the community outreach aspect of our interactions with ProJoven. The purpose of the BioBlitz is to identify as many species of plants, animals, and insects in a 10 by 10 meter space within the Makengue reserve. Within this marked off area, myself as well as the other students will take pictures of all of the living organisms. At the end of the week we will collect all of the photos. While we are still in Nicaragua, we will be traveling into the local town of Castillo and visiting its local high school. When we are there, we will show the students the photos that we took during the BioBlitz  and ask the students to tell us what they call a certain organism. When we return to American University, the Biology committee will spend  classifying all of the organisms. I would then like to take the photos and create a bilingual coloring book for all school age children. Each page would consist a photograph of an organism from the BioBlitz as well the English name and local name (according to the students) of the organism. I plan to have these coloring books created by mid-April and send back to Castillo, specifically to the local schools. Through these coloring books I hope to bridge a language barrier, educate the students and the other townspeople of the animal life around them, and create a lasting educational relationship between the townspeople and the Makengue Reserve which will continue to benefit future generations.

What to Expect

Hey! It’s Frankie. This is my first blog of the Makengue Project. I wanted to write this week so that I could personally look back and see what I thought my expectations would be for Makengue and what they actually will end up being.

So, as I write on this DC “snow day” (I say it like so because I am from Colorado and this would just be considered a dusting, but I digress) my mind is in the Nicaraguan Rainforest wondering what is in store in just a few short weeks. Sure, I am worried about getting my renewed passport in time, the right rain boots, and making sure I don’t overpack, but also that I don’t under pack, but mainly I am wildly excited to find out what I will be doing for Makengue.

My hope is that I will work on a documentary of some sort. I am thinking this would be two fold. First off, I think it would be great to document life at AU. Now, you may be thinking, why would that matter, but hey! hold your horses, let me explain. In class we discussed this idea as a potential way to share our culture with the high school students we will meet down in Nicaragua. Documenting my weird friends and other strange things about American University would be great. The second part, and the part I am stoked for, is the idea that we would document the process of Makengue. We would film important class discussions, trips we go on to prepare, the plane ride, the bus ride, the boat rides, the hikes, and all the love! This may sound vain, but once more hear me out. Since the Makengue Project is only in its second year, I think it is important to document for our prosperity what we did. When I joined the Makengue Project, I was excited, but confused as well. I think the best way to fix this problem in the future would be to have people see what we did, so they know. Also, once it has been 5, even 10, years down the road, people will see what has changed, what has stayed the same–the mark this Makengue group (that wonderful bunch of kids) left on this project. It will help our all “important” legacy, just like this blog.

Anyways…chat with ya’ll soon. I hope you enjoy reading everyone else’s blogs throughout this process, it’s gonna be a great time!

Makengue Take-Two

A new batch of twelve students have been chosen to continue American University’s partnership with the Makengue Reserve.  The class first met last week and students are actively developing their research projects for this semester.

Chris Tudge, Associate Professor in AU’s Biology department will be leading this year’s group.  Professor Tudge is a marine biologist and invertebrate biologist specializing in crustacean reproduction. His research focuses on the internal and external reproductive morphology of crustaceans and how it relates to their evolution. He is also a keen naturalist and bird enthusiast.

Angela Pinaglia, Graduate Research Advisor, leads the weekly labs, helping students narrow their interests and focus their research.  Angela is nearing completion of her Masters of Fine Arts in Film and Electronic Media.  Contributing her filmmaking and cross-cultural communication skills to the project, Angela is excited to return to Makengue and continue the work of last year’s students.

Alison Brown, Program Associate, was part of the inaugural group of students to visit Makengue and now works closely with Angela and assists the students with their projects.  Alison is working on her Bachelors degree in International Studies and Arab Studies.  She loves working with students, is passionate about the mission of Makengue, and is looking forward to helping both the students and the NGO grow over the next semester.