February 19th, 2007
Dear Met Family,
It is hard to believe that today was our final day in the Pantanal. We spent all morning in the lab analyzing the data from our expedition and preparing presentations that we would use to communicate our results. We made our presentations to the research team this evening. It was rewarding to produce a tangible result, and to complete these final steps in the scientific process that is so crucial to Empirical Reasoning. Our data, of course, is part of a much larger set of data that has been collected over the past three years, and we cannot draw any definite conclusions from our data alone. We were able, however, to look for patterns in the data and make observations about what the data may suggest.
This afternoon I spent time interviewing the scientists about the significance of their work, and about their opinions on the preservation of the earth’s biodiversity. They both spoke passionately and intelligently about the need for all individuals to come together in an effort to preserve the ecosystems of our earth. Among their insights were the following:
- All of the world’s countries must act in a collected effort to preserve the ecosystems of the world. We may be separated politically, but we are very much connected ecologically.
- We should think globally, and act locally.
- Every form of life plays a very important role in the delicate balance of an ecosystem, and all forms of life must be valued and protected.
- If we can reduce our own personal waste, we are making a great contribution to preservation efforts.
- We need less to live comfortably than we think we do.
My experiences here in the Pantanal have affirmed many of these insights for me. What I might add to this list of insights is a simple one: When you go out into the world, take notice. Look aroundand see. You are only part of this intimate web.
“Our job is to be awake people, utterly conscious, to attend to our world.”
-unknown
Thank you for journeying with me. I can’t wait to see you next week!
Muito amor,
Maria
My Pantanal Adventure Continues!
February 18, 2006
Dear Met Family,
Much excitement has transpired since I last wrote! Yesterday morning I had the great privilege of checking the newly set reptile and amphibian traps. This work was exciting, and also tested my confidence in handling some pretty wild creatures. In addition to removing the frogs and lizards, we learned to remove enormous tarantulas (literally as big as my hand with the fingers spread out), rats, cockroaches, and all sorts of interesting insects, including centipede type insects nearly a foot long. One of my great lessons here has been that our fear of animals and insects is often times irrational and unfounded. It is like one of the pantanheiros on the farm here explained to me the first night: He explained that killing snakes when we see them is an outdated mentality. Now, we must understand that snakes play a very important role in our ecosystem, and we need to respect and protect them. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t a wee bit nervous in my attempts to remove the rat, but I have come to have a greater interest in and respect for the various forms of life around me.
After bringing all the frogs and lizards to the farm, it was time to classify them in the lab. I absolutely loved learning how to identify the distinguishing characteristics in creatures that had previously looked all the same to me. I learned about the various adaptations that each species has, and how we can identify them, not only by their body shape and markings, but also by their behavior. We measured, weighed, and classified three lizards and over 60 frogs!
This morning Michelle (a teacher from Framingham), Chinloo (the Earthwatch staff member) and I spent the morning with Manoel canoeing in the oxbow lakes in search of otters, otter resting sites, or otter scat. At one point, Michelle and I split from Manoel and Chinloo in order to cover more area. We were out of sight of Manoel and Chinloo, and were paddling through a somewhat ominous inlet. The water was covered in moss, dead trees ringed the inlet, and the sky threatened an oncoming storm. My heart dropped when I saw the eyes of a caiman (the large alligator like reptile) peeking above the water about three feet in front of us. His gaze was locked right on us. I quietly, and somewhat frantically, alerted Michelle to the situation. We waited patiently and the caiman submerged himself back into the lake. When we made our way out of the inlet, having avoided the caiman, we spotted Manoel and Chinloo, and they were glowing. They had seen a Neotropical Otter!
This afternoon was probably the most beautiful we have had yet. Six of us traveled to a near by salina, which is a salt water lake that has very different ecological characteristics than the freshwater rivers, oxbow lakes, and baias we have been working in. The salinas are also the only known home to turtles in this part of the Pantanal, and we went there in search of the highly coveted Pantanal turtle. The six of us took off our shoes, waded into the salina, and began our methodological search for the turtles. Although caiman were swimming literally within feet of us, we needed to remain focused on our important mission to locate and capture a turtle. About 10 minutes into our search I spotted a turtle and dove into the water after it. I knew that I could not let the turtle get away, because if I did I would be losing data that is very important to Ellen’s research. Fortunately, I prevailed in my mission and successfully captured a beautiful, yellow-bellied turtle! It was a perfect ending to a perfect day.
Good night, and I’ll write again in the morning.
Bejocas,
Mary
Day 6 of my Pantanal Adventure
February 16, 2007
Sunrise this morning at Fazenda Rio Negro
Us cruising down the river on our way to search for otters (that’s me in the right front!)
Ellen, the principal investigator for the Amphibian and Reptile project, chomping on a wild palm plant (it was delicious)
The caiman that greeted us upon our return from tracking otters.
Paddling down the river in search of otters!
Cleaning otter spraints.
A bird resting around the farm this evening.
Dear Met Family,
I will begin with a quote from the book Hotspots, a copy of which is here at the farm and dedicated by the authors to the Fazenda Rio Negro for its contributions to the conservation of the biodiversity in the Pantanal. The book focuses on 25 regions around the world that have been identified as “hotspots” because they are home to vast biodiversity and are also extremely vulnerable to environmental threats. These hotspots comprise only 1.4% of the land surface area of the earth, but are estimated to support over 60% of earth’s Biodiversity (Mittermeier, Myers & Mittermeier). The quote is as follows:
“For those of us who are not scientists there is a way
to appreciate the complexity and diversity of a tropical
forest: To remain silent…and to carefully listen to the
delicate language of murmurs, steps and the rustling of
wings. A mysterious language that little by little we
come to decipher and comprehend. “
-Patricio Robles Gil
This afternoon we paddled down the river in search of otters and remained nearly silent for about 3 hours. As I listened, the symphony of the jungle came alive, and I was reminded of how little I understand about the complex ecosystems here on earth. My father often tells a story about Albert Einstein that goes something like this: a young scientist asks Albert, “Mr. Einstein, what’s new in science?” Einstein replies, “Do you know everything that is old?” I have thought of this story often during my time in the Pantanal. As a species, we humans still have so much to learn about the millions of other species of life on our planet! According to Hotspots, scientists have only identified about 1.7 million of the estimated 5 to 30 million species of life on earth. What’s more is that we are only at the very beginning of understanding the ecological processes through which these millions of species share the earth. There is so very much we have yet to understand, and I have tremendous respect for the scientists here at the Fazenda Rio Negro who have committed their professional lives to expanding our body of knowledge. To those of you who share this passion for Empirical Reasoning and for the natural world (Matthew Smith, Kyle Moreino, Michael Collins, to name a few), I hope you know that you have the choice to pursue that passion and to join this noble mission.
On a lighter note, I will leave you with the top three humor highlights of the trip thus far:
3. Being attacked by a swarm of bees in the jungle: We ran into a nest and within seconds dozens had nestled their way into out hair. Fortunately, they were a species of bee that does not bite!
2. Cleaning otter spraints (also know as poop) and making up clever songs about our lovely task.
1. Finding out, much to our dismay, that we had been washing our clothing in the sink that is used to clean the otter poop.
Have a great vacation, and thanks for the fantastic phone call today. Miss you all still.
Amor,
Mary
Day 5 of my Pantanal Adventure
February 15, 2007
Dear Met Family,
Hello to everyone!! A big Brazilian shout out to Gillian, Danielle and Meha for the emails. And a double big, enormously grateful shout out to Brandon R. for the two emails you have sent me. I can’t tell you how much I look forward to hearing from all of you at the end of each day. It means more than you know. Danielle asked about how people in Sao Paulo sleep with helicopters landing on their roof. The answer is I do not know. My guess is it’s pretty noisy, maybe like living near an airport here in the U.S.A. The world is a crazy place!
The adventure here in the Pantanal continues! Yesterday after I wrote to you we had the great thrill of working in the labs with the reptiles that we had captured earlier in the day. We learned the methods for measuring, weighing, and identifying sex. We also learned the universal code for marking reptiles and amphibians who have been captured, and watched on curiously as Ellen, our scientist, snipped the toes of lizards so that they can be identified in the future. All of this data is important evidence that will support the suggestions that Ellen makes for preservation in the Pantanal. Gathering accurate data and evidence is yet another important piece of Empirical Reasoning.
Today we ventured out with Manoel, who is one of the principal researchers for the otter project. We traveled along the bank of the river and we used a Global Positioning System to mark the locations that had signs of otters. In the mornings we found footprints, spraints (the “scientific” term for poop) and resting sites, and in the afternoon we had two otter sightings! Manoel has been collecting data on otters of the Pantanal for three years, and his data shows that there are few otter sightings during the wet season when the Pantanal is flooded. For this reason, we don’t expect to see many otters, but still need to collect data in order to provide more evidence that proves that otters use the habitat of the Pantanal differently in the wet season than in the dry season.
Upon our return from the morning session we had our first rain. It was spectacular cruising down the river in a tropical rain shower. We also ran into another pack of Caiman (the large alligator like reptile), saw many Pecuries (pig like animals) and feral pigs, and observed Capivaras (the world’s largest rats) basking in the river. Oddly enough, in the midst of all of these exotic and new animals, I have been most in awe of the ants. They build these enormous empires (yes Ian W., they may indeed be the genghis kahns of the Pantanal!) and have little roads that they build for travel that wind all along the jungle floor. It is truly amazing.
Tomorrow I will continue to work on the otter project with Manoel, and then will return to the jungle with Ellen to collect the reptiles and amphibians that will be captured in the traps we set yesterday. In her lecture tonight about diversity of reptiles and amphibians, she said that sometimes she captures up to 500 frogs in one expedition! Unfortunately, they sometimes also find tarantulas in the traps, and this morning we found a lizard that had been killed by insects in the trap.
And thus my adventure in the Pantanal continues. I love this life of being out in the world and making a humble attempt to understand its complexity. As Mary Oliver says “A lifetime is not long enough for the beauty of this world.“ And still, while I continue to be enthralled with this world around me, I miss all of you, and our community so very much. I think of you everyday, and can’t wait to talk to you tomorrow.
Com muito amor (with much love),
Mary
Day 4 of my Pantanal Adventure
February 14, 2007
Here I am drinking a traditional Brazilian tea out in the field.
A lizard we captured today in the field.
A Jabirou Stork fishing by a salt water lake.
The fish that a pantanheiro caught today (it became our dinner!)
A view of the farm from the river.
Dairy cows grazing at the farm at sunset.
Hello again to my Met Family,
Before I begin sharing with the East Bay, I want to send a big hello and hug to the students and teachers at Tatitlek Community School in Tatitlek, Alaska. Thank you for following my adventure, and please email me any questions or thoughts you have!
Now for the East Bay (and Tatitlek as well!): As I sweat through my clothing in the sweltering, 97 degrees Brazilian heat, I think of all of you during your first snow day of the year! We are enjoying our midday rest, as it is traditional here in Brazil to spend several hours in the middle of the day eating and resting (now this is a concept I would love to see mainstream American culture adopt!). We rose early this morning, somewhat tired due to last night’s disturbance when a family of caipivaras traveled through the farm. Capivaras are the largest rodent on earth, and make their home here in the Pantanal. They also make strange and disturbing vomiting sounds, which led to the tiredness this morning. After a strong cup of Brazilian coffee, we set out early in the day with Ellen, the principal researcher on the Reptile and Amphibian project. We spent all morning bushwhacking through the jungle (yes, we did use a machete) to visit the reptile and amphibian trap sites. Once we located the traps, we stopped and set up our worksite. We cleaned and repaired the traps, and collected the critters who had been trapped inside. Today our count was low: two lizards and one snake, but we set many traps today and expect far more captures tomorrow. This afternoon we will join Ellen in the lab to weigh, measure and identify the critters we captured today, and tomorrow they will be returned the same location in which they were captured.
This work has been an interesting exercise in Empirical Reasoning. One of Ellen’s research questions (and remember Madam Curie’s lesson that asking questions is a very important part of thinking like a scientist) is as follows: Which species of amphibians and reptiles occur within the southern Pantanal? Ellen’s data will help scientists to better understand the biodiversity that exists in the Pantanal. A larger mission is to understand how the diversity of animals here uses the habitat; this research will help scientists make suggestions about how to preserve a healthy environment for conserving biodiversity in the Pantanal.
On a personal note, I loved being out working in the wetland today, and I thank all of you for supporting me in following my own passion here (I hope some of you students follow my lead!). For me, there is something energizing and reassuring about being out in the natural world in an intimate way. I feel like I am in my place within something so much larger than myself. I found an excerpt from William Wordsworth that helped me think about this feeling. It is below and, while it may have a few big words, it also contains some simple truths (Shaylynn, you should check it out and see if you like this style of poetry/prose).
I miss you all. This morning’s work made me excited about the Lil’ Soldiers’ end of the year advisory trip—I so look forward to exploring someplace beautiful with all of you. I will be calling on Friday at 11:30 AM your time, so gather up your most important questions for me and I’ll do my best to answer them.
Take care, enjoy the snow, and be sure to take a look at our photo gallery.
Love,
Mary
And I have felt
a presence that disturbs me with joy
of elevated thoughts
a sense of sublime, of something far more deeply interfused,
whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
and the round ocean of the living air
and the blue sky, and in the mind of man:
A motion and a spirit that impels all thinking things,
all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things.
-Wordsworth
Day 3 of my Pantanal Adventure
February 13, 2007
See photos of our day on the Photo Gallery page.
Hello again to my dear Met Family!
I will begin again with a SHOUT OUT, this time to Ben Selle for emailing a question to me. I understand that many of you logged on to the website on Monday and were dissapointed to find no updates (our website coordinator had not yet arrived in Brazil). Read on and below you will find all of my journal entries so far. I would love to hear all of your thoughts, so send along any or all questions you have. Ben asked a question about the graffiti art I had posted pictures of; he asked if there was a lot of art like that in the city. The answer is that I did not see any other graffiti art of that style in the part of the city I was in, though there were many different styles of graffiti art throughout the city. I did talk with a brasileiro about the graffiti art and he said that in other parts of Brazil the government allows and supports graffiti art in public spaces, but this is not true in Campo Grande. Ben’s second question was about what students like you would do if you were to participate in an Earthwatch expedition. The answer is that you would be doing exactly what I am doing. And Tom, good news! They do have student expeditions to Brazil!
Today was our most adventurous day so far! We met with the scientists, Ellen and Manoel, early in the morning and took a two hour bus ride through the country side into a small town that borders the Pantanal. There we boarded our tiny plane and within moments we were gliding above the incredible flood plains of the Pantanal. The expanse of blue and green extends for miles in every direction. We are here in the peak of the flood season, so many forests are submerged and only the tops of trees are visible above the water’s surface. Thirty minutes later the Fazenda Rio Negro came into site, and the plane lowered down onto a dirt landing strip. The Fazenda (which means farm in Portuguese) began three hundred years ago as a farm the size of Portugal, and has since been divided into smaller plots of land. In more recent years, the farm has changed its mission from one of cattle ranching to one of scientific research and ecotourism. The government of Mato Grasso do Sul (the Brazilian state we are in) supports this work by financially supporting the farm. It is an interesting (and encouraging) history.
We spent the morning exploring the Fazenda, and were then breifed by the scientists about the mission and methods of the research project. This helped me to better understand the importance of our research, and I feel grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the preservation of this valuable source of biodiversity. I also came to understand in more depth the extent of human impact on our earth, and how our actions often have consequences that reach far beyond our immediate environment.
After our briefing we headed out into the flood waters. We ate wild berries and grapes, viewed majestic birds, and fought off swarms of hungry mosquitos. We adventured into the forest to check on a few reptile traps (Matthew, we found a snake!), and were in awe of the intricate world of ants we discovered on the forest floor. When we returned to the fazenda, a pack of large, aligator like reptiles called caiman greeted us with their still and silent presence.
Tomorrow we will actually get to the real work of cleaning reptile traps and tracking otters. I will look forward to your questions tomorrow night.
Bejos e amor,
Mar
Graffiti art in Campo Grande.
Translation of text in orange painting: “Save yourself”
Graffiti art in Campo Grande.
Translation of text in green painting: “You think your life is difficult?”
A painting of a Pantanheiro (a person who lives in the Pantanal) herding his cattle.
Our Earthwatch Pantanal team modeling our new boots.
Day Two of My Pantanal Adventure
February 12, 2007
Dear Met Family,
Welcome to Day One of our Pantanal Adventure! Let me begin by giving a huge SHOUT OUT to Matthew Smith and Brandon Raposa for emailing me. Your efforts are much appreciated and I look forward to hearing from the rest of you soon. Matthew, thanks for your questions. The answer to both questions is no; I have not seen any snakes (this is because we haven’t actually gotten to the Pantanal yet—more on that later) and we do not have anti-venom handy. If I do indeed get bitten by a venomous snake, I would need to be flown out to the nearest hospital, which is a ½ hour flight. Four species of venomous snake are known in the Pantanal: two species of pit viper, one type of rattle snake, and the coral. I have also learned that I will be joining the Reptile and Amphibian project for part of the expedition, so in addition to sifting through otter poop J, I may have the opportunity to handle some pretty cool critters.
I hope that Charlie had the opportunity to read my letter to all of you about my journey here to Campo Grande, but if he did not it is posted below and worth a read. After writing your letter I went to a café to enjoy live music and practice my Portuguese. I found myself in several interesting conversations with local brasileiros, which reaffirmed my belief that while it is important to be cautious when traveling, it is also wise to be open to meeting good people out in the world. I met several last night.
Today I spent the entire day out and about. I walked the main drag, browsing in shops (yes, I bought a pair of hot pink hoop earrings), viewing art (still looking for some to purchase for the school), and enjoying the jeitinho (liitle way) of Brazil. I also visited the Parque de Naceos in hopes to visit the museum if Indigenous Peoples, but unfortunately it was closed. When I returned to my hotel this afternoon I was greeted by the five other members of our team—three middle school teachers from Framingham, Massachusetts, one middle school teacher from Pembroke, Maine, and an Earthwatch staff member. The six of us ventured back out into the city in search of tall rubber boots, as there has been severe flooding in the Pantanal. After a “wild boot chase” (I know you miss my cheesy sense of humor) through the city, we succeeded in buying six very cute pairs of rubber boots (refer to photo). The best part of the day for me was being surrounded by motivated, thoughtful educators who are following their passions to the Pantanal!
Tomorrow at 7:00 AM we will begin the venture into the Pantanal, and my next entry will be written from deep in the largest freshwater wetland on earth!
Eu ja fiquei com saudadaes! (I already miss you all!)
Mary
Day One of My Pantanal Adventure
February 11, 2007
Dear Met Family,
25 hours ago I boarded a plane in our very own Boston Massachusetts, and 19 hours later my plane lowered itself into the red and green landscapes of the outskirts of Sao Paulo, the largest city in Brasil and one of the world's top three largest cities (just to give you an idea of how big it is, in Sao Paulo they have helicopter landing pads on the tops of malls and apartment buildings to facilitate this mode of travel). In Sao Paulo I spent two hectic hours making my way through customs, breaking in my very rusty Portuguese, and feeling my way back into the Brazilian jeitinho (which means “little way of doing things”). I nearly boarded the wrong plane which would have taken me to Brasilia, the nation’s capital, and then, after a straight up sprint through the airport, barely made the right connecting flight to Campo Grande. But I made it to my destination nonetheless and I am finally beginning to settle back into this country that I lovingly called home for the seven months I lived here in 2000. I am the first representative from the expedition to arrive in Campo Grande, so I have had today all to myself. As soon as I checked into the hotel, I had the urge to get out into the city and walk; walk with no plan, no destination, no map, and the secret hope that I would get lost somewhere and find adventure—I am, admittedly, a mischievous traveler. As I moved out into the city I was struck immediately by the city's graffiti—it is an engaging and provocative art, and I spent the next half an hour following the graffiti and taking photographs. I then found a seat at a boteca, an open café that in many ways epitomizes the Brazilian social experience. People gather at the botecas for hours, talking, not talking, sharing tall bottles of beer and collectively cooking meat over open fire pits that line the sidewalks. As I sat I felt an unexpected sense of homecoming, a deep familiarity and comfort. I have often felt this way in my travels, as I believe that I am perhaps most myself when I am out in the world with no other purpose than to be present, to give attention to the world around me, to notice and consider those details that I so often overlook. As I felt this presence, I was grateful for it, and then, suddenly, I began to feel a visceral dislike and resentment towards America. I found myself in an internal monologue of cursing my country for robbing me of the present, for pulling me into a culture of rushing and of being future focused. I caught myself, pulled back, and began to more carefully and fairly contemplate my relationship with my American identity. I remembered that traveling, both within and outside of the United States, has always shocked me into new perspectives about who I am in the world—and it has always, always generated far more questions than answers.
At some point, it started raining a hot tropical rain and I made my way out into the street to walk back to my hotel. As I walked, I thought of all of you. I thought about how I hope that each of you takes advantage of the opportunities before you, and that you move out to explore the world beyond yourself, beyond Rhode Island, beyond the United States of America. Natalie, go to Africa! Tom, go to Portugal! Shianne, go to Mexico! Ian go to Mongolia! AD go back to the Dominican Republic again and again and again…Each of you has so much to offer the world, and so very much to learn from it.
Alas, I get romantic and inspired when I travel, so thanks for bearing with me. Tomorrow I will meet the other members of my expedition, and on Tuesday we will fly on our six-passenger plane deep into the Pantanal. Look for updates on the website. Have a great week, and good luck in Exhibitions. I miss and love you all!
Muito amor e bejos (much love and kisses)
Mary
P.S. Motorcycles seem to be the preferred mode of transportation here and, of course watching, all the cycles did inspire some sidewalk dancing on my part—thanks Natalie and Shay for the lessons.