Never too young to do research at Galeta
December 14, 2009
The award went to a proposal by Colegio Even-Ezer, a local high school, to survey the mushrooms in the mangroves and wet forests at Galeta Point.
Recently, Galeta awarded its first “Dr. James Currie Internship.” This prize allows high school students, from the port city of Colon, to carry out a science field research project using Galeta as their operations base.
The award went to a proposal by Colegio Even-Ezer, a local high school, to survey the mushrooms in the mangroves and wet forests at Galeta Point.
From November 27th to December 1st, six fifth-year students: Marcelo Maestre, Karim Sowly, Yariela Vivero, Leyur Clarke, Chadiel Espada and Dariel Detouch- and two biology teachers- Karen Dixon and Alexis Artola-happily walked cheerfully through the forests, plodding through mud under pouring rain and ceaseless attacks by swarms of "chitras".
The group found 20 species of mushrooms in the mangroves and another 100 species in the adjacent wet forests. They were elated, as none had ever participated in a field project.
I would like to extend my thanks to the Galeta staff for hosting the Eben-Ezer high school during their four night stay at the Lab, and to Jorge Morales for providing them with scientific support and advice.
The Internship is named after Dr. James Currie, a former teacher of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF) in Washington, DC.
For six years, Currie visited Galeta with his students. So pleased were these students by the hospitality of the Galeta staff that they raise small donations to create this internship.
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