Island Forest Ecology field course

On Monday, May 21st, we kicked off the third round of the Island Forest Ecology field course, funded by the US Forest Service, and run by Dr. Ross Miller from University of Guam, Dr. Haldre Rogers from Iowa State University, with assistance from Dr. Evan Fricke and Ann Marie Gawel from Iowa State University, as well as a host of guest lecturers.

We have 15 participants, coming from Northern Marianas College on Saipan, University of Guam, Guam Forestry, Micronesia Conservation Trust, Yap Forestry, Chuuk Forestry, Pohnpei Forestry, Kosrae Forestry, and Marshall Islands Forestry. Each participant will introduce his/herself in a post over the next week.

In this course, the participants will learn about the ecology of Pacific Island forests, and develop small group projects that compare some aspect of ecology on Saipan and Guam. They will pose a question, develop a hypothesis and methods to test the hypothesis, collect data, analyze data, and produce a final paper and presentation. Our first week is on Saipan, and the next week and a half are on Guam. Stay tuned for updates!