Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2016/17   

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This was my first step on the African continent and now it became an opening of a wonderful field course…

It is the most rewarding course in HKU I have ever had!  I didn’t expect that it was so much fun to go for safari, analyze elephant behaviors and be amazed by a lion hunt in front of our vehicle!  Needless to say, this field course is a perfect complement of BIOL 4303 Animal Behavior.  This field course gives practical skills and experience to students.  Local geographical features and behavior of carnivores and herbivores are impressive.  However, most importantly, you can’t observe and experience these in person in a lecture room!  It is also more fascinating to watch the behaviors, especially lion hunt and elephant charging, in the field.

Besides, I met good teammates working together for these days.  We were also very lucky to observe the entire rhino notching process in person.  It was also an honor to have friendly and caring demonstrators and, of course, a knowledgeable and experienced professor to teach us in the entire trip.  What can be better than that?

With no doubt, this field course will be a lifelong memory for me.  I am also sure that every student majoring in Ecology and Biodiversity should have a memory like this in his or her heart…

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2016/17

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The marine mammal field course has provided me an unforgetable learning experience which cannot be offered by ordinary lectures. The greatest part of the course was I could see the free-ranging animals face to face during the sea-based surveys. Of course, the field course was way more than a dolphin watching activity. Apart from observing the dolphin's behaviours, we have to design our own data sheet to record information from what we saw. After the surveys, we had discussions on each encounters with professor and demonstrators. In my opinion, this was the most valuable part of the course as I learnt a lot of skills and techniques required by animal behaviours research. Then, I could applied what I learned in the next day of survey which made me more familiar with the knowledge. This kind of experiential learning helps students to make quick progress on knowing how to carry out scientific research. I remember in the last two days of survey, we were able to make similar observations with the demonstrators. The professor was also impressed by the progress we made. The field course is definitely worth organising and I wish I can have more chances to participate in this kind of course.

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2016/17   

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Going to Africa with ecologists is perhaps one of the best things that a nature enthusiast can dream of.  I was pleased to participate in the Animal Behaviour Field Course in 2017.  The trip was awesome.

The natural beauty and rich wildlife in South Africa really amazed me.  In ten days, we saw more than a hundred species of birds, several reptiles and numerous large mammals that we had only seen on TV.  Our trip was very unforgettable as we witnessed a breathtaking predation scene – a pride lioness preyed on a blue wildebeest.  What made it more special was the narration by Dr. Karczmarski and our guide, as well as our discussion afterwards.  They were really knowledgeable and observant.  They analyzed the pride’s strategy and related it to our textbook knowledge.  It was really cool.

In addition to the lucky encounter, the planned activities were great as well.  We had talks delivered by expert ecologists working with different animals.  In particular, we learnt about the vegetation, bats, elephants and their interactions.  We had hands-on experience in every section.  For example, we did a tree survey in Dinokeng Game Reserve, measuring the tree dimensions and identifying species of trees.  We also observed the elephants’ behaviour in Pilanesberg.  The field experiences were definitely valuable but the data analysis part was even greater.  Instructed by the experts, we learnt new research techniques.  We made use of GIS to analyze the impact of elephants to natural vegetation.  We also tried to identify animal individuals from photos.  These techniques are useful for our future studies and work.  We gathered the information and had a presentation on the last day, which anchored our knowledge.

Moreover, in terms of conservation, we had a talk from a park manager on the management of Pilanesberg Game Reserve.  It was insightful as he addressed many challenges and conservation measures.  The most unexpected part of our trip was to participate in the rhino-notching programme of Pilanesberg Wildlife Trust.  We saw everything that the vet and park manager did, from anesthetizing the rhino, to notching its ears, getting DNA samples and injecting a microchip in its horn.  I am really impressed by their dedication to protect the endangered rhinos, which are disastrously affected by poaching.

To conclude, the field course was nothing like lectures in campus, nor wildlife watching on holidays.  It was unique out-of-classroom course from which I have learnt a lot.  Indeed, it was also one of my best memories in HKU. 

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2016/17   

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This course was an incredible experience that allowed us to learn about cetacean behaviors and to catch a glimpse of a researcher’s life.  Within 6 days of boat surveys in Tañon Strait, 6 species of cetaceans were observed and more than 20 encounters were recorded by our team.  I could still recall the excitement when we met our first group of spinner dolphins on the first day that we didn’t even record much data for the encounter.

Speaking of data recording, I never thought that behavioral data collection would be that challenging and interesting.  It not only involves scientific reasoning but also lots of field technique considerations.  I really enjoyed discussing research methodology and also research techniques with demonstrators.  They often give us insightful comments on our research projects and guide us with lots of interesting open-ended questions on research methodology and data analysis.  Designing our own research projects can effectively develop our critical thinking skills, which is very useful for our future career.  I am very glad to have such precious opportunity to gain hands-on experience in behavioral field research.  Such experience was absolutely different and unique compared to the encounters in Hong Kong.  I am proud to be one of the students in this course!

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2016/17   

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Analogous to how chemists have a fundamental need to learn from compounding chemicals, or how statisticians acquire their analysis skills from data processing, field studies are indispensable to ecologists in that they visualize the interaction between organisms and nature in an honest, crystal-clear way that other learning settings cannot replicate, not by exhibiting unlively figures of dead animals on a showcase, and definitely not by delivering wordy presentation slides in a lecture. This animal behavior field course was a manifestation of such realization – during the intensive field trip, we were allowed to spend a copious amount of time having lectures and discussion where we exchanged ideas and prepare for field works, observing the behavior of mammals residing in African safaris like a frontline Nat Geo documentary making crew, and last but not least designing, performing, and reflecting on field experiments on animals exclusive to the unique habitats in South Africa. What is taught on lecture might fade into oblivion; you could never forget the knowledge and the inspiration from this once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity.  

In the field trip, our group particularly had a self-designed project on the feasibility of photo identification of mammals, and conducted a behavioral study on the vigilance behavior of African elephants induced by game drive vehicles. Identification of individual organisms is crucial in behavioral research on understanding a species’ social behavior and organization; it is also the first and foremost challenge that many young ecologists have to overcome at the beginning of their research. Previous to this trip, all I was concerned about was the application of sophisticated theories - perhaps anticipating how animals opt for their preys based on optimal foraging theory – the photo identification project rendered to me a picture of what it was like to practically conduct a behavior research, especially of the amount of time and perseverance it takes to do data sampling.  

In our project, we had challenges in formulating hypotheses, designing experimental metrics, processing data, analyzing statistics; yet the part that impressed me most was the in vivo sampling process. To understand the social structure of elephant and their vigilance behavior, we had to identify individuals and record their behavior. The process was far from easy – they were always moving and behave in various ways in response to different stimuli. The complexity of animal behavior per se made research more difficult than one could imagine, as behavior, by definition, is a range of actions manifested by an individual, and one action is correlated with another as a chain. To comprehend what constituted a defined behavior, and what such behavior implied to us, it required a long time of observation and learning, which could only have achieved through field studies. I was glad that this course provided a great deal amount of time for us to conduct my own studies on topics of our interest, and freedom for us to carry on experiments as we hoped in the field. 

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2016/17   

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The marine mammal field course brought me a life-changing experience. While almost all courses in HKU can provide knowledge, a field course like this provokes emotions, insights. Beauty of the sea, life, you need to see it by eyes, feel it yourself – the wideness of the sky and sea, and within that, the pure form of life shown by cetaceans which have their own ways to survive, enjoy themselves, even to be curious like us. Animals are not just objects to be studied; they are vivid lives, beautiful and energetic. The love and appreciation towards cetacean (or more, on life) turns into thrust in your will to understand them, to learn about them. This course makes me love what I am studying even more, and this is what other theoretical courses may not be able to do.

Another thing really special is that…there is a lot interaction between people in this course. I love exchanging thoughts with others, learning and sharing things, knowing other’s unique views. It is not only about knowledge, but also about experience and feelings. I really like the way that we had discussion in a small room, sitting on beds and floor, relaxed and casual – and we threw all things we saw in the field out on the table to let others comment. I feel more comfortable in this kind of discussion, and more focused as well. Besides (though not so related to the course content :-P), I quite like talking to people from different culture background… I made new friends in the middle of the sea (while I was swimming) and on the beach (while I was watching stars). By interacting with people from the Philippines, I actually learnt something about their culture and their personal lives. I treasure all these.

All in all, I learnt a lot of knowledge from this course, but what makes it special is this course as an experience, which showed me the beauty of cetacean. 

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2016/17   

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This field course is one of the most unforgettable experiences in my university life, as it provided me an opportunity to closely observe and study about wild animals, for example learning about different kinds of elephants’ behaviours, like how they show dominance over another male elephants, their stress responses, musth behaviours and so on.  Moreover, lion hunting was observed on site during game drives, which was amazing and astonishing to sight how lioness approached, deployed and structured the hunt, which could link back to lectures and enable students to compare and contrast between theory and reality.  Furthermore, new knowledge about bats biology and conservation were learnt, which was a rather new and mysterious topic that seldom being discussed locally.  Besides, a lot of native wild animals were also observed, like zebras, impalas, kudus and so on.

Apart from wildlife observations and studies, wildlife issues were also discussed, for example, the way in which people/tourists treat wild animals, wildlife trade as well as poaching.  The most remarkable experience was to join the rhino anti-poaching team for the ear notching process, which was important for tracking and identifying individuals in order to monitor rhino poaching situations.  This was a very valuable and rare opportunity to get to know how rhino tagging and anti-poaching work was carried out, students could even have the chance to touch the rhino.  This could encourage students to spread the anti-poaching messages as well as cherish wild animals.  

New skills were also taught from the course, like photo identifications, while old skills like the use of QGIS and pivot table were enhanced.  These allow students to better analyze the scientific data they came across during the field course.

Last but not the least, there were some interesting facts and sharing from the guide/ranger during game drives, like zebras are black in body colour with white stripes, the types of plants elephants love the eat etc.

All the above experiences were very valuable and unforgettable.  As an ecology student, I believe that only when we go to the field sites, we can work out and enhance the knowledge learnt from lectures, especially those about wildlife that could not be observed locally, and then we can have a comprehensive understanding of the subject. 

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2016/17   

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This trip has been a fruitful experience as I was given the chance to participate in a research survey. This allows me to learn a lot of practical on-field skills. Methods to spot dolphin groups, species identification and interpretation of dolphins behaviours are practical skills that normal courses could not teach me. On top of these skills, I and my classmates had a lot of chances to discuss and even tried to set up a small research question and design how to collect the required data. This experience lets me understand the importance of quantitative and systematic data collection. Also, I learned that teamwork is crucial to field survey.  I am grateful that I was able to be a part of this course as I have gained a lot and had a lot of fun in the process.

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2016/17   

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I am so glad to be given a chance to participate in BIOL4921 Animal behaviour and behavioural ecology: Field course at South Africa.  This course has allowed to apply what I have learned from BIOL 3101 Animal Behaviour. To be honest, before coming to the field course, I did not have a very clear picture of large mammals e.g. lions, elephants in my mind.  The theories I have learnt from BIOL 4303 seemed to be very vain to me.  However, this field course has brought me to South Africa to see different wildlife and to connect what I learnt in BIOL4303 to what I saw. This is really important for learning since there is always a purpose of learning something.  I still remember how excited I felt when I saw the lions prey the wildebeests just in front of me.  It was hard to believe that the lions were just 3 m in front of me.  At the same time, I also thought about the way of predation of lions taught in BIOL4303.  I feel really lucky that I could take both BIOL4921 and BIOL4303 since without neither one I could not have developed a more in-depth understanding of the behaviour of the wildlife. 

Lastly, I would like to say thousands of thanks to Dr. Leszek.  He has always connected what we saw in the game drive to what we learnt in BIOL4303.  This is really an amazing learning experience since I could learn efficiently from these precious hands-on experience.  Besides, I would also like to say big thanks to the HKU.  Without the funding for this course, I would not have participated in the field course and could have got such an eye-opening experience.  This will be always an unforgettable experience in my life.

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2016/17   

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The Marine Mammal Field Course offered great opportunity for me to observe wildlife and cetacean behaviour. Contrary to conventional lectures and classes, the field course allowed me to observe and analyse my observations independently, while the accuracy of my observations was evaluated through highly interactive discussions. I truly feel the difference in the dynamics of learning between lectures and in field course: in lectures, information and knowledge are conveyed (or fed) by teachers to students in a one-way direction; while in the field course, students are able to gather information, discuss and share each other’s thoughts among students and teachers in a multidirectional manner. This facilitates learning in a more rounded perspective and stimulate thoughts and questions. I personally think that this mode of learning is essential for studying ecology, and therefore, I would love to participate in more field-based courses in the future, such as the Animal Behaviour Field Course.

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2016/17   

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The field course was an amazing experience as well as an inspiring course.  Thanks to the course, I could explore outside Asia for the first time, where the ecosystem and species diversity are completely different.  Seeing large mammals roaming around with such a breath-taking view was incredible, observing their behaviour was a whole new field experience.

Guest lecturers and field rangers were so knowledgeable and taught us a lot on animal behaviour and field tracking skills.  Interaction with guest lecturers and their students in conference room and in field site was an amazing intelligence-stimulating experience.  Our wildlife ranger was so skilful with years of field experience, not only helped us to track and find animals, he had taught us a lot on the vegetation and shared his animal behaviour observation with us.

The highlight of the trip must be the pack of lioness hunting a wildebeest right in front of our car.  I was fortunate to sit beside the driver on that day, watching the lioness rushing out from the bush and killing the wildebeest was speechless.  This adrenaline-pumping experience turned out to be another great example demonstrating carnivore behaviour, despite lion hunt had been discussed in class, witnessing an actual kill left me with a deeper impression.

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2016/17   

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Behaviorial ecology is a scientific study of the relationship of an animal’s behavior and its habitats. It requires not only theoretical learnings, but, more importantly, experiential learnings. The course, BIOL4451 Cetacean Behavior, Ecology & Conservation: Field Research Experience, offers an experiential learning experience to students which is of utmost importance for studying ecology. In the wild, students can apply what they have learnt in lecture rooms. Through observations, they can truly experience nature and understand the dynamic of nature, which cannot be found in the lecture rooms.

To me, it was my pleasure to join the field course BIOL4451. The period of eight days was not enough for us to be professional, but it was enough for us to know more about cetacean. Under the instructions of demonstrators, we had tried to carry out fundamental field research works, including data recording, photo identification and discussions. After the field course, maybe I am not able to become a professional of cetacean, but at least I know how to identify different species, what should I do during field surveys, why do we need to care and conserve cetaceans. More importantly, these experiential learnings are really impressive and the memories will not fade with time.

Every learning strategies are like gears of a machines. Without any pieces of them, a machine cannot work properly. Similarly, a comprehensive learning should include every learning strategy in order to maximize the learning outcomes. Therefore, value of experiential learning should not be neglect or underestimate. I really appreciate the curriculum of field course and the effort of lecturer and demonstrator. They have enriched my knowledge, experiences and broaden my horizon in cetacean world.

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2016/17   

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In these few days, we have built up a great insight on the animal behaviour.  As an ecology student, the best way to learn is to go into the field site and do the practical.  We can further understand how to do the field research on large terrestrial mammals.  We can try to establish our protocols and carried out real researches.  There were lots of help from different experienced teachers, including professors on different disciplines and also park ecologists.  We had a lot of chances to exchange ideas with different people including the PhD students on site.  We had a lot of chances to see animals and plants we can never see in HK in the habitat we can never find in HK.  We can learn from the environment instead of trying to absorb something on notes or textbooks.

This can also help us develop our career goal by knowing if we are interested in researches and conservation jobs.  This will also be really inspiring for us to know how should we preserve our environment and live sustainably.

This should be a course that all students in E&B should take.  There is no meaning for students to learn only from books.  Field trip is really crucial to learning, or the students will just waste the four years in HKU. 

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2016/17   

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In this field course, I have learnt how a research should be like. This course has given me a chance to think about how should we carry out a study and design our own study. Such a hands-on experience can only be gained in field courses, and I have effectively learnt and utilised the required skills to carry out my own study.

Instead on gaining only theoretical knowledge in lectures, applying what we have learnt in real life and gaining experiences are always more important for studying ecology. Having boat surveys can definitely help me in utilising what I have learnt in lectures. Other than that, it is also a new and unique experience to observe 6 different species of cetaceans, especially when you cannot do it in Hong Kong.

Apart from gaining knowledge and experience about my academic study, it is also nice and wonderful to know more about things that cannot be learnt or experienced in Hong Kong. By going to the Philippines and talking to the local people, I have got some wonderful experience in knowing more about the local culture and language there. This has certainly broadened my horizons.

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2016/17   

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The 10-days field course to South Africa, took place from 3rd March to 6th March at Dinokeng Game Reserve, and from 6th March to 12th March at Pilanesberg National Park and Game Reserve.  The fulfilling experiential learning provided hands-on experience in application of research techniques and gave us unforgettable sightings.

The first three days at Dinokeng Game Reserve, we experienced the data collection of elephant impact on vegetation based on a research.  Using our own data, we learnt to analyze with QGIS and pivot table in Microsoft excel. Also, research techniques and data collection of bat were demonstrated. The remaining days at Pilanesberg National Park and Game Reserve, we experienced the photographic identification (photo-ID) techniques in two field drives per day. We tried to examine the feasibilty of photo-ID in different species, including zebra, giraffe, impala, wildebeest, rhinoceros and elephants. We also tried to design our own data sheet for record of the elephant behaviors. Between the morning and evening game drives, we had guest lectures on different local topics, covering history, research and conservation.

The two most remarkable things that made life worth living were sighting of lion hunt, and the close observation of work by rhino anti-poaching team. One of the morning game drive at Pilanesberg, our ranger stopped the vehicle with sighting of five lions ambushing downhill. They could hardly be recognized because of the long grass. When we saw two of the lions started moving in two directions, the ranger told us they are likely to hunt the wildebeest in front our vehicle. But he also told us the attack could be five minutes, half hour or longer. Therefore, we must be very lucky to see the hunt within half hour. When we found the lion was ready to attack in a very short distance, everyone held breath.  They jump of the lion signalled the start of shutter sound. We could feel the surge of adrenaline.

The rhino anti-poaching team was going to put a manmade tag on a rhino for future tracking with photo-ID and numbering, in order to fight against poaching. We had the opportunity to observe the whole action. Starting from the searching of helicopter, we followed them to the spotted area of the target. A dart was shot from professional on helicopter to anesthetize the animal in a short period. We could see the ground team quickly run towards the target once the animal lay. The whole action was short and tidy. They notched the rhino ears and inserted a chip into the horn. There were other ground teams include guarding with guns and watching if any other animals coming into the area. After all the work done, we quickly went back to our vehicle and kept our eyes on the target. We waited until the target woke up and left.  It was such a memorable experience for a rhino to be within reach. 

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Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2016/17   

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It is lucky for me to have an Ecology and Biodiversity major in the flexible curriculum of Bachelor of Science. The great variety of field-course can surely widen my horizon. In this marine mammal field course, we had 6 continuous days of unforgettable sea-based research surveys in Tañon Strait, which is a protected seascape located in Philippines.

Innovation is the key of science and this field-course can foster our knowledge and idea on basic scientific research. With the direct-contact of cetaceans, hand-on experience on research methods, and the assistance from passionate professor and demonstrators, it is possible for me to utilize the nature environment as a big classroom, and learn something new than the usual classroom-based learning. The golden opportunity of the course enables me to get my feet wet and feel the intricate problem that a researcher will face in the field. If I have one more chance, I would not hesitate to take this experiential learning course to treasure the intrinsic value of ecology.

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2016/17   

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The animal behavior field course is definitely one of the most memorable experience I had during my 4 years of undergraduate study in HKU. Despite the tight time schedule for daily activities and the final presentation, hence felt quite exhausted at the end of the course, I still feel absolutely no regret registering in this course.

As the course name suggests, hand-on field experience is a major component in the course, and I am benefited from it hugely. Being able to engage in a simple animal behavior study from planning and engaging in the thinking process, to data-sheet designing, to actual practice and evaluation. That’s something we would not be able to experience in Hong Kong and definitely not in a classroom. We were also able to taste challenges that researchers would face in the wild, e.g. the panic when over 20 elephants from several matriarch groups march towards you one after another, and you simply don’t have the manpower to take record for even most of them, but only the best that you can. We all know and were told repeatedly of the challenges and obstacles one would face in an actual research back in HK, but nothing is comparable to having it a go yourself with first-hand experience.

Talks given by guest lecturers in the course were also very interesting. One in particular was very memorable for he, unlike most guest lecturers one would meet in his university life, is not a scholar from the science community but the head of a management team of a national park. Hence, he was able to give us interesting and thought-provoking input on controversial topics, like using burning as a management tool of a reserve area. While the issue is highly debatable, and some experts in the field may hold opinion otherwise, he would give us his opinion given his experience and consideration as a member of management team of a reserve.

Of course, even putting the above aside, being able to see and contact with wildlife that I have seen countlessly on TV since my childhood alone was a superb experience for me. Being able to see all these animals, giraffes, wildebeests, elephants, etc., wandering freely before me with my own eyes is just marvellous. Able to witness a successful lion hunt in a perhaps perfect circumstance, to get close contact with majestic elephant bulls, to observe tagging of an endangered white rhino and able to feel the warmth of its body with my hands, to listen and chat with an experienced and friendly guide in the national park who was able to teach you new things in almost any topic on the plants and animals he works with and love sincerely… All these deeply reminds me of why I am interested in ecology in the first place, and I would not be able to experience all these had I not join this field course.

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2016/17   

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Undoubtedly one of the most unforgettable experiential learning, the Marine Mammal field course is a big hit on both the academic and experiential grounds.

In the first stance, this field course is nowhere close to the normal theoretical class we had in campus. Debriefing and lessons were given depending on what we had experienced in the Tanon Strait, instead of cramming up unnecessary information not applicable in the field. Albeit information was intensively given every day on a non-stop basis, it is well interconnected and easy to understand. Active discussion on data sheet also helped us to make more acquaintance about research foundation, which is of utmost importance to science students.

Moreover, the most valuable part of this field course is the experience-sharing from the research PhD students, research assistants, and demonstrators, not to mention Professor Leszek.  Admittedly, the true nature would not show us fancy observation every day. But more experienced ones shared what they encountered back in the past which makes the course full of fun. Their passion for Cetacean behavioural study pushed the student to be eager to learn more throughout the course as well.  Never hesitant to share, they answered our every question with no doubt which indeed enhanced our curiosity to ask more. This kind of interactive learning environment can hardly be found in a normal classroom.

All in all, I did learn and enjoy the field course much further than I have expected before the trip :)

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2016/17   

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It was a memorable and unforgettable experience for me to participate in this South Africa field course. I have learnt a lot in this field trip. Firstly, it was my first time in my university life to conduct a research study on my own. Designing our research, collecting data and data analysis were all done by our own and some research techniques were acquired which was useful for my future career in this field. It was fun to work with friends with similar interest. Also, it was interesting to see how different wildlife interacts in an ecosystem. We were lucky enough to witness a group of lionesses preying on a Blue Wildebeest. It was also a unique experience to participate in ear notching operation on a white rhino. With artificial markings on the ears, it allows conservationists to monitor and protect the individual rhinos. Conservationists in Pilanesberg National Park were concerned about the number of rhino in Africa since it drops rapidly in recent years due to high demand of rhino’s horn. After knowing the current situation of rhinos, I was inspired and decided to encourage friends and my family not to buy any rhino horn product when I back Hong Kong.

Moreover, it was fun to chat with the students there. Apart from having deeper understanding on how they conduct research on specific animals, it also can have better understanding on their culture. Some of the culture there was totally different from us. At last, I would like to thank you Dr. Leszek and all the demonstrators for this memorable field trip. I hope more student can experience this next year. 

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2016/17   

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This course provided the precious opportunity to study the behavioural ecology of Cetaceans in the wild, not simply dolphin watching like tourists, but to understand and study the behavioural states and events in an in-depth way that can hardly be replaced by sitting in lectures or tutorials. Studying dolphins at sea brings a lot of excitement to me and raised my interest towards Cetaceans. I always believe that studying ecology is something more than gaining knowledge from books, but being able to go oversea and learn from the nature is more important, and I found it very impressive and memorable.

Throughout the whole course, Dr Leszek Karczmarski and all demonstrators are very helpful and eager to teach us based on their own experiences and knowledge. Besides studying behavioural ecology of marine mammals, the course also gave me the opportunity to think and work as a research student. Under the guidance from them, we were able to think in a more scientific way when designing our datasheet and analysing our data collected, focusing on the rationale and principle behind every step we took, whether the datasheet could fully record every single information from the field. They did not guide us by simply giving out correct answers, but encouraged us to criticize instead of keep nodding our heads.

After taking this course, I found myself more interested in Cetaceans, not only the behavioural ecology and also conservation plans that greatly affects the survival rate of marine mammals, trying to educate people around me how construction projects and increasing human disturbance are harming Cetaceans in different ways.

Once again, I would like to thank Dr Leszek Karczmarski and fellow demonstrators for giving me such a wonderful field course. 

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2015/16   

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Being at South Africa to learn about animal behaviour was one of the best and most unforgettable learning experiences I’ve ever had. Comparing to traditional teaching and learning relationship in classrooms, I personally prefer this kind of informal and experience-based learning method much more. Learning can take place anywhere and anytime in our life, and this field course provided us with such an amazing learning environment: surrounded by easily-accessible and knowledgeable teachers (which included not only professors and demonstrators, but also local people who knew their nature home better than anyone else), we could literally learn things every time with a new observation or question. The new knowledge that we gained from such casual but self-motivated learning always last much longer than cramming it during classroom lectures. I might completely forget the concept of musth three weeks after the final if I learned that from PowerPoint slides, but now I’m pretty sure that I can explain clearly to people what an elephant in musth looks like three or even thirty years later after this field course.

The best way to learn a foreign language is to be in that country, likewise, the best way to learn about animal behaviour is to immerse ourselves in the animal kingdom and observe it with passion.

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2015/16   

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The Animal Behaviour Field Course is truly the most memorable experience in my 4-year university life. The course provided excellent opportunity to me to gain knowledge on African terrestrial mammals, to interact with local researchers, to learn to conduct different types of survey and to cooperate with other classmates. The experience on conducting survey is very different from Hong Kong. Hong Kong and South Africa have completely different climate, thereby giving very different vegetation and animal species. In Hong Kong, we always conduct surveys on foot and with little help from vehicles sometimes; however, in South Africa, we need to stay in specialized type of vehicle throughout the whole survey to ensure safety. I found this very challenging and interesting and I have acquired a new field skill which might be useful in the future. The management of protected areas between the two places is also very different but they also face the same problem on private lands. It let me reflect on what Hong Kong can be done better in conserving wildlife.

We are also able to see a considerable number of species, from large mammals to small amphibians, which I have never seen before and I could feel the connection between nature and myself. In the past, we could only see them in documentaries and now, we could really observe their behaviours by our own eyes. One memorable moment is to see various behaviours displayed by a group of elephants and these give us cues on knowing what they are thinking and feeling. The course is also well-designed and we can learn through a diversity of activities, including field trips, discussion, group projects and lectures. All of these are valuable experiences that I have never had before and are experiences that could never be given in traditional classroom courses. 

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2015/16  

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I am so grateful to be granted the opportunity for travelling to the Philippines and experiencing actual scientific field survey for 10 days along with the local research team and professional guidance. It was a life-changing experience and I am sure that if it was not the field course, I would never have the opportunity to participate in an oversea research team, especially for marine mammals. Although eco-tourism and animal-seeing tours are now popular, those tours are plainly sightseeing and observation of animals, while field course is a hands-on experience that I was able to work as a field researcher for 10 days, and it was absolutely once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Let alone the beautiful scenery and interesting culture in the Philippines, the richness in biodiversity and the abundance of animals are amazing. We were so blessed to be able to see all 6 cetacean species that are believed to be residence of the water in 3 days of field survey, and it was exceptional to see a group of non-resting dwarf sperm whales which are actively travelling.

Species identification in field is completely different from what we learn from books and lectures, where first-handed experience and field experience are tremendously important. We were responsible for introducing 2 species in groups of 3, which we had to introduce its identification features, life history, distribution etc., but when we were finally out in the field, I realized that only field experience can stimulate your interest and desire to learn about a species. And only observing the animals and witnessing their behaviour, would allow one to truly appreciate its beauty and the wonder of species diversity.

I am grateful to all the professional guidance and support from all the demonstrators and doctor, and the hospitality of the local people. A helping hand from the professional research team is critical in the field which they generously shared their experience and tips in species identification, as well as their knowledge in cetaceans behaviour and field research in general.

Ten days are hardly enough for me in which everyday field surveys were full of excitement and surprise. I am definitely inspired by the field course experience and is looking forward to opportunities lying ahead for me to go to field sites in different places and experience field work in all aspects. 

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2015/16   

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I am so glad that I could have joined the Animal Behaviour field course to South Africa in March. This was really an unforgettable and fruitful journey. In this ten days, we got chances to see the real animals that we could only see in documentary in Hong Kong. We saw a number of herbivores like giraffes, elephants, zebras and antlopes, as well as predators like lions and jackals. We did not only see the animals, but also many special behaviours of them. For example, we saw lions feeding on wildebeest corpse, elephants in musth and flehmen response of giraffe etc… It was awesome to see and know more about the native wildlife and ecosystems in South Africa that cannot be seen in Hong Kong. They were really phenomenal and impressive.

Apart from seeing interesting animals and their behaviours, we also got hands on experience on various mammal field studies like vigilance observations, photo identifications and elephant behaviours observations. These first-hand experience were precious to have a taste of how studies on mammals were conducted. We got experience in various animal behaviours studies which is not possible in Hong Kong. This experience also brought many of the knowledge and theories we learnt in classes into practice. For example, we did our study and observations on the real-world cases of landscape of fear and foraging strategies of animals. Many techniques and fun can only be practiced and experienced through hands-on experiences. These reinforced knowledge we learnt by lively experiences. In this journey, we knew much more about ecology and behaviours of mammals as well as some other animals. By experiencing the abstract concepts in real life, his learning experience out of the classroom really made learning much more interesting with my dear classmates and friends.

It was also valuable and fruitful that we got sharing sessions by the current research students as well as many local researchers and people working for conservation or guides on the precious animals in South Africa. We learnt very much about different studies, knowledge and experience from who are knowledgeable.  I learnt a lot from sharing and communicating with them. It was also valuable to learn more about conservation issues like poaching and ivory trades and also their responses from the local perspective.

All in all, the Animal Behaviour field course that let me see much wildlife out of Hong Kong. Meanwhile, through hands-on experiences on field studies which cannot be conducted in Hong Kong, we learnt much more about ecology and behaviours. The abstract knowledge and concepts were reinforced through vivid wildlife and experiences. Learning from local researchers and people who work for wildlife was also precious and valuable. This journey was really fruitful and irreplaceable.

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2015/16  

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Frankly speaking, I didn’t expect that it was such a rewarding course before enrolment. I didn’t expect that it was so much fun to search for dolphins, analyse their behaviours and be amazed by their movements.  Needless to say, this field course is a perfect complement of BIOL 3320 The Biology of Marine Mammals. Although this field course doesn’t cover all kinds of marine mammals (only cetaceans), it gives practical skills and experience to students. Local geographical features, sea state and other forms of human disturbance will affect the results of cetacean surveys. However, most importantly, you can’t observe and experience these in person in a lecture room!  It will also be more impressive to watch the behaviours (especially bow-riding) in the field.

Besides, I met good teammates working on the boat together for 9 days. It was also an honour to have friendly and caring demonstrators and, of course, a knowledgeable and experienced professor to teach us in the entire trip. What can be better than that?

With no doubt, this field course will be a lifelong memory for me. I am also sure that every student majoring in Ecology and Biodiversity should have a memory like this in his or her heart…

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2015/16   

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Various overseas study opportunities is always one of the attractiveness in university life. This year, I feel very pleased and lucky that I was given this chance to join the animal behaviour field course in South Africa. Studying ecology, hand-on experience in the field is a substantial element. It is important to acquire basic knowledge from lectures, it is much more important that we can apply what we have learnt into reality.

During the field course, we were required to design our own research protocol and carried it out in the field. Through this process, I was able to experience and practice in it, at the same time, gain new insight and inspiration through trial and error. Indeed, it is really an effective way of learning, which can reinforce my own knowledge, and raise my interest and motivation to take the initiative to learn new stuff.

Besides of this, we were also involving in the knowledge exchange with the researchers there. We could experience how a professional standard of research is done in the scope of ecology. The course is meaningful to students and can really broaden my horizons. More importantly, after back to Hong Kong, I was more confident and encouraged in my study. I am also very willing to share my learning experience with others as knowledge should be accumulated and passed on through our active sharing and exchange. Having an overseas learning experience can enhance my competitiveness and is also advantageous to my future career, no matter it is related to ecological conservation or scientific research.

Such special and rare experience cannot be found in elsewhere. I am sincerely grateful for all the support and opportunity given.  

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2015/16  

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Marine Mammal Field Course is the best course I had in HKU and truly a once-a-lifetime experience. Tranquil blue water in Tanon Strait with dolphins is an excellent learning platform. Stepping out of the classroom allows us to apply and consolidate the knowledge we learnt.

During the field course, we have a taste of how the research is done such as taking environmental records and photo-ID.  We were required to design the data sheet to record each encounter. Demonstrators guided us to improve the data sheet. Started by reporting our encounter in a messy way in the first few days, but after some amendment, we finally had our data sheet in a systematic way. It is a remarkable learning process we went through. Moreover, during 10 days, we experience different weather condition such as sunny, thunderstorm which is also one of the constraints of field work.

Moreover, I enjoy the interactive discussion on the boat and after the survey which helps us to reflect and consolidate what we had seen in the field. Some of the concepts may seem difficult in the lectures, but it is easier to understand when we encounter the situation in reality. For example, it is hard to describe the behaviour and social structure of dolphin. Yet, during the field course, we observe and understand different behaviour. When the dolphins are circling around, having longer diving time and deep dive, we may suspect that they may be foraging. This knowledge can barely teach in traditional lectures instead it requires hands-on experiences. Moreover, there is no a fixed syllabus in the field course compared to lectures. I can observe in the field and ask questions which I can take control of my learning and explore the things that I am interested in.

Studying in ecology and environment, we should not confine our learning in classroom, it is crucial to go out and explore the nature. Swimming in 500m water deep, experiencing the windy sea and watching the dolphin, I have a memorable and awesome time with all the demonstrators and group mates. The dolphins are so close to our boat that we can nearly touch them. One of the unforgettable moments was dolphin spinning high up the air, leaping out of the water and bow-riding, these scenes were magnificent. I could not believe that pictures in the documentary appeared just in front of us. The passion and appreciation of nature can only be developed through our own experiences and feeling. This field trip is invaluable learning experience to me and reassures my passion towards environment.

Last but not least, thank you Dr. Leszek and the demonstrator, Stephen, Derek, Likko and Hans for the valuable teaching throughout the trip.

Environmental Science

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2015/16   

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This year field course was truly amazing and indeed fruitful. We all experienced not only the joy of doing field works, but also the frustration that an ecologist may face. And that is not something we can learn in classroom. For instance, the experimental design would have to be modified according to the actual environment and the species. Recognizing the ideal or seems perfect design might not work in the field, we learnt to be more thoughtful and careful to our design despite the probabilities of things not working. Nonetheless, the game drive during the ten days trip was significantly enhance our firsthand experience on behavioural study and things that we need to reminds at field. We all appreciate the support on logistic and teaching from all demonstrators, the professors and researchers from South Africa, and last but not least, Dr. Leszek Karczmarski. Hope next year students will again appreciate the nature in a similar, and even more fruitful field course. 

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2015/16  

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This is probably the most enjoyable field trip I ever had. Being an environmental science student, I may not have full knowledge of animal kingdom and its ecology behind. Yet, I have a strong passion in this amazing marine mammal world. The 10-days trip has strengthened my sense in working with animals.  Prior to this field course, I took the course, the biology of marine mammal. The course has provided me all sort of details and information on these wonderful creatures. Yet, something went missing – the feeling. But this field course was like a click, where everything become real and genuine. All of a sudden, I was so connected to the real world.

During the field course, we had to carry out boat-based photo ID survey every day. We went out in Tañon Strait to look for splashes and dorsal fins, hoping that these were signs of the beautiful dolphins and whales. The moment when we spotted them through the binoculars, we were literally having a whale of a time. The close distance with the dolphins caused quite a stir on the boat. The moment when they were so close to almost touch, I was completely flipped. This 10-days intensive field course has provided me more than enough opportunities to learn about the field research method and apply the knowledge that we learnt in classroom onto the field. Seeing the species in person, I have a clearer picture on the types of behaviors. One important thing I learnt from this field course is to think about all what you see. One snap shot is just one single snap. But together, snaps can mean something more. Together, we can predict, infer and analyse their natural behavior and ecological processes.

Apart from training my thinking, notes taking skills are also important. A good data sheet allows the recorder to recall the situation at that time. In this course, we got the chance to design our own data sheet, selecting and filtering the useful and useless data. Thinking skills eventually developed in the observation and notes-taking process. Through the 10-days intensive practices, we became more interested in and more familiar with cetacean field work. 

Environmental Science

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2015/16   

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Joining the course was fruitful and I learnt really a lot out of it. First, hands-on experience did help me learn to think critically. As we had a scientific question to answer, we had to set up our methodology, collected our own data and analyzed them to answer our question. Hence, we had to think thoroughly to plan for everything. However, during field work, there was always some problems that came up which reminded us that we did not think enough for certain part of the research. Therefore, it kept pushing us to think critically how we could collect data that fit our question most and that every decision we made had to base on something. Therefore, by conducting field works, it actually boosted us to think harder and more critical.

Going into the field also provided a better understanding on animals’ behaviours. In class, we all learnt about how animal might behave and what theories might explain the behaviour. However, going into field and seeing certain behaviours occur, we could know better what was causing such behaviour, how this behaviour occurred and more importantly, how other individuals interact with such behaviour. For instance, when male elephants fight, we can see how other females around with calf response to such behaviour. This was a very different experience which cannot be obtained in class. The field also allow us to see more variability that may occur in the real world rather than just theoretical explanation.

The field course also allowed us to learn the local culture there. The guide there was very helpful and was very knowledgeable. He shared with us a lot of things like how they used the natural resources there. For instance, leaves of a tree species are very soft and he introduced to us that the tree was called toilet paper tree and was really used as toilet paper by the local tribes. They also told us that the origin of the name of an animal called blesbok. The “bles” was actually refer to blessing, as the animal was an easy prey for human, the locals call that a blessing that they can get food from it.

The experience from field course was really incredible. Seeing the animals with my own eye was really different than seeing them on TV or in lecture. They exhibit wide range of behaviours and interactions of which many were never learnt/ expected before. More variability of the ecosystem can also be seen only in the field and by doing field works, which reminds us how complex ecosystem is. This course was exciting, amazing and incredible in terms of experience and knowledge gained. 

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2015/16  

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The marine mammal field course provides a valuable opportunity for students to consolidate the knowledge acquired from in the classroom and get experience to work in the cetacean lab.  In Hong Kong, it is not easy to observe wild cetacean and due to the small population size and species diversity.  While in the Philippines, both abundance and the variety of marine mammals are much higher than in Hong Kong and hence, by joining the field course, we can have more chances to observe free-ranging cetacean.  The understanding of cetacean ecology is strengthened by relating what we learnt in the classroom and our observations and experiences in the field trip.  Some knowledge acquired in lectures are quite abstract.  Whilst, what we observed in the field course, such as their behaviour, interactions between individuals and habitat can provide a more concrete idea to us. As a result, through engaging in the field course, my knowledge on marine mammals is much enriched.

Apart from that, we can also learn how to carry out research on marine mammals. I am impressed by the informative assessment on designing the datasheet. For me, it is an effective way to acquire conceptual understanding of the process to conduct a study. The field course provides chances for us to gain practical skills and through adopting the comments of demonstrators and teacher, our skills on data collections and analysis are improved.

Chances for students to work in the cetacean lab in Hong Kong is very rare, and I believe the field course offers an alternative way for students to work in marine mammals’ field.  Most importantly, it helps to train my independent thinking and openly discuss my research ideas, so it can really facilitate students to develop and explore their research interest, and to be a well-equipped with scientific thinking when to pursue their future career. 

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2015/16   

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This experiential learning trip to South Africa is really intellectually stimulating to students living in a compact city like Hong Kong. Savannahs and bushvelds, accompanied by big mammals, such as giraffes, elephants, lions, buffaloes and rhinoceros, excite me a lot and provide me a new perspective of looking into the world. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and there may not be another chance of visiting a country in Africa because of financial constraints.

This overseas field course is essential to students studying ecology. Field-based components offer another dimension of learning ecology. An overseas field course on the continent where human life probably originated is another level of excitement, adding an international element to the curriculum.  It not only broadens students’ horizon, but also makes my dream of studying animals in Africa come true.

On the other hand, this course is so well organized and prepared that every day is fruitful and saturated with the knowledge of ecology. This course deserves to be offered to students majoring or minoring in Ecology & Biodiversity every year.  I highly recommend students majoring or minoring in Ecology & Biodiversity to take this course. 

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2015/16  

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What I have learnt and experienced in the 2016 marine mammal field course is far more than from what I expected.

The field course has allowed me to have deeper understanding on the concept and examples mentioned in class. From the BIOL 3320 The Biology of Marine Mammals course in the semester one, we have learnt a lot of theories and knowledge related to cetacean group structures, which relate to different types of habitats and species. In the field course, we were able to observe the differences in group structure in different species. For example, the spotted dolphins we encountered in the field are always in large group with at least 100 individuals, while the dwarf sperm whales that we encountered are always less than five. The group size variation between two species are somehow correlated to what lectures have described, nearshore species, dwarf sperm whales in this case often have much smaller group size than pelagic species, considering less foraging cooperation required in coastal area. The above examples have illustrated how field course had given me opportunities to apply theories in class into real life situations in the field.

The field course has also given me lots of experiences that cannot be acquired in class, or even in Hong Kong. Our daily routine is to record our own data sheet everyday per encounter like the researchers, to record information such as group size, behaviours, and perform photo ID. Such intense training and later developed self awareness on data sheet recording allows me to pick up the related skills and knowledge in a rapid speed. Such skills and knowledge could not be easily taught in Hong Kong, considering little dolphin abundance and lots of human disturbance in here. The encounter of dolphin or whale species that I have never seen before is another huge part in the field course that makes me really grateful of joined the course.  

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2015/16   

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As the Chinese saying goes, “Seeing is believing”.  The best learning often involves experiences.  In the Animal Behaviour Field Course in South Africa, I did feel what those words mean.  We had daily game drives (field surveys) in two game reserves to observe the behavior of large mammals.  South Africa is such a good place to study that many popular large mammals in animal behavior studies, such as giraffes, zebras, lions, elephants and so on, can be found there.  I could always link up some observation with the theories and knowledge that I have learnt in the class.  Sometimes the knowledge may be quite abstract to understand, for example, the concept of landscape of fear.  The actual sightings in game drives can bring knowledge with scenes, feelings, discussion and memories, so that I can have deeper impression and better understanding.  This kind of experiential learning is so great that it has helped me a lot to acquire the knowledge in the course content.

This field course also provides me with plenty of opportunities to familiarize with some techniques and research methods in ethology, such as photo identification, focal sampling, scan sampling and vegetation survey.  Some of them are hard to practice in Hong Kong because of the low number of applicable target species.  After this trip, I can master those techniques so I have more advantages over other people in the case that such techniques are required.  This helps me to better equip myself and favors my career development in terms of field experience and skills. 

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2015/16  

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In this field course, we can learn more about the methods and principles of field research. We understood how the protocols were made and why were them designed like that. These insights helped us to develop the critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Also, in the field site, we can apply our knowledge from lectures. We only learnt a lot of principles in the lectures, but we did not know how to apply the principles and it was difficult to understand the thoroughly without hand-on experience. In this field course, we can understand the content in lecture better by applying the knowledge in the reality. It is much useful for having one field trip than having months of lectures as experience is the best teacher. Lastly, the course helps us to determine whether we are suitable to continue our studies and researches on the field of ecology by letting us to experience the research programme directly. This inspiring trip allows us to decide our future paths and career, which is very important to year 3 students. Therefore, it will be great if more people in the major E&B can have the chance to experience and join the course as I think this field course is one of the most important courses that can allow students to apply their knowledge in the field, as well as letting them to know more about the research pathway in Ecology & Biodiversity. 

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2015/16   

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After joining the field course of Animal Behaviour to South Africa, I believe that experiential field courses are essential for ecology students to equip them with more understanding and widen their horizons.  As a Year 3 student who have not taken the course BIOL4303 Animal Behaviour yet, I was hoping to learn a lot from the trip about Animal Behaviour. This trip fulfilled my expectations and I have learned even more than I expected.

The trip is divided into three focuses: the herbivore behaviours, photo identification and behaviours of African elephants. In each of them, there are lectures and sharing introducing the basic knowledge of the three focuses and how ethologists do the research with different methods. This part is especially important due to the invitations of different guest lecturers to give a sharing.  It is interesting and fruitful to learn more about how ecology is studied in other parts of the world and different views and opinions in conservation and environmental management. The flow of ideas and thought between people living in different places is valuable to the learning of ecology students on how they view the world and maybe on their future decision if they have plans to work or study overseas after graduation.

Apart from that, we did 14 game drives (surveys) in total, 9 in Dinokeng Game Reserve and 5 in Pilanesberg National Park.  During 12 surveys, we need to do data collection. The way of data collection and how works were divided in a group were totally depends on the group decisions.  In the other words, the students need to construct a framework of doing data collection on their corresponding topics. This can help us to apply our scientific minds and knowledge on learning and getting hand-on experiences from the fieldworks. Personally, what I learned the most from this part is to think and evaluate all little part of settings of your research. Critical evaluations can help in understanding the purposes of all little parts in your methods and improvements can be made after you thoroughly understand the whole project.

Not only do we worked on the data collection during the wildlife surveys, it was also very enjoyable to see all the animal species we have never seen in-person but only from wildlife documentaries. Different rare and interesting animal behaviours were seen. For example, a group of lion feeding on a blue wildebeest in an open grassland, a male giraffe did Flehmen response after smelling a female’s urine to sense the pheromone and mud bathing of a white rhinoceros etc.  They are all extremely valuable to an ecology student.  In science, observation of surroundings is essential and the root of any knowledge. For ecology, these are the chances for ecology students to make their own observation.  In which somehow I think this is what Hong Kong ecology students need to experience, instead of just believe and recite all the facts printed on the lecture notes.

Last but not least, it is the most important part that I have enjoyed every minutes of the field trip. Thanks to Dr. Leszek, Lily, Stephen, Scott, CWing, Andy and all the people who helped in organizing the whole trip.  

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2015/16   

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I treasure this once-a-life-time opportunity very much that I was so excited when knowing this year we were going to South Africa for the Big 5, which I had only seen on TV and lecture notes.  Furthermore, though I could actually visit this place on my own in the future, I could not have another chance to go with experts in this field to have in-depth understanding towards the behaviours and ecology of these wonderful creatures. It turned out that this course did not let me down. I got tons of knowledge, much enhanced understanding, and memorable experience from the journey.

As an ecology student, I have been learning theories about how animals interacting with each other, how they are affected by the surroundings and how human interfere with their peaceful lives. But this time we were not trapped in the lecture room anymore. We went out to the field and did a study about them. From getting background information and exchanging ideas with local experts, postulating our own hypothesis, to collecting data by ourselves and came up with explanation to what we observed, I learnt to think steps by steps and critically. Things are always seemingly easy to handle until the plan is finally carried out. But the difficulties trained up our problem-solving skills and we eventually came up with a satisfying product – the presentation upon our findings.

Of course, the most exciting part of this course was to see the African wildlife. Within two weeks’ time, I saw numerous interesting behaviours of animals – giraffe tasting his crush’s urine in order to confirm if she was the Ms. Right, the moment when an elephant clan moved across a road, lazy lion pride resting at the roadside not even bothered to have a glimpse at you, elephants fighting for an hour long and frightened ostriches dashing through bushes, you name it.

Still, I now understand that behind this peaceful scene is the poaching problem which seriously threatens the population of animals. Through the practice of reintroduction and ecotourism, some of them might be saved from extinction but this is not a permanent solution. Poaching still exist even in entirely fenced reserves like the two sites we visited. And the population growth in South Africa does not reflect the situation of animals in other African countries. After all, this is a worldwide problem that could not be solved with one’s endeavor alone. I was impressed by the question asked by a guest, ‘Are you aware of the problem in Hong Kong?’ Apart from drilling ourselves in lecture notes when we are back to ‘normality’, perhaps we should think about what could actually be done to truly protect these spectacular creatures.

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Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2014/15

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This field course has provided me with an excellent opportunity to learn about the biology and ecology of marine mammals in the field. First, the Philippines is a really good place to study marine mammals because of its high biodiversity and abundance of cetaceans.  I was enchanted by the blue, crystal-clear sea and the lovely dolphins.  It was exciting to watch hundreds of dolphins swimming around us. We did boat surveys on eight consecutive days and already have encountered over 2500 individuals with 5 species of dolphins (nearly half of the total number of species recorded here!).  It is nearly impossible to achieve this in Hong Kong. The more encounters I had, the more behavioral patterns of the dolphins and things about their ecology and conservation I could observe, and then discuss with others and learn. The learning in the field course, especially on board of a survey boat, was vivid, impressive and thus fast. The discussion session every night further enriched my understanding of marine mammal ecology. As a student studying Ecology & Biodiversity (E&B), it is crucial to learn from nature and this field course has done precisely that, it brought me to nature to explore it more.

Besides learning several conceptual theories, I have also improved my practical skills in this field course.  I have learnt several scientific research techniques (such as photo-identification method and line-transect method) and other field skills (like taking fast photos of wildlife, estimating group size and structure, recording environmental data, etc.).  I have got lots of chances to apply them when doing surveys.  Practice has helped me to gain better understanding about those research methods and techniques.  I am sure this will equip me better to help work in ecological conservation in the future.

Overall, the field course has widened my horizons and inspired me to learn more about nature.  It is a must-go trip for E&B students!  I feel so lucky that I have enrolled in this field course.  I did really enjoy and learn a lot in it!  Overall, the field course was well organized and fruitful for me.  Thank you, Dr. Leszek and all the demonstrators!!!   Hope we can meet again in next year’s Animal Behavior field course!

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2014/15   

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This field course has been running for the past two years.  As I remember it, I first learned about this course in my freshman year as an undergraduate and I have been waiting for the opportunity to participate for two years.  I finally got the chance this year, and the course was very satisfying.

As a student, I am a staunch believer in the Experiential Learning experience.  I had the opportunity to take part in two; the HKUWW exchange and this course, the Biological Sciences Field Course.  This course was a capstone for my curriculum and an important experience in many ways.  While semester-long exchanges are favored by many students because it gives them more time abroad and flexibility to execute their own plans, I would like to stress how much I benefitted from a structured, course-based learning experience abroad.  For our course, we spent 9 days in Sabah following a specifically designed curriculum to broaden our perspective on the rigors of fieldwork in Ecology.  This amounts to pretty much an entry-level vocational experience directly relevant to those planning to pursue Ecology work in the future.  We visited the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, a richly biodiverse area unique to Sabah.  We were immersed in 9 days of learning in the tropical rainforest, which is not an opportunity available in Hong Kong.  Through previous courses with Professor Karczmarski, I had built up a good foundation of knowledge for this course, but the out-of-classroom experience was very important for consolidating what I had learnt.  By seeing it in person, I was much more stimulated about the realities of conservation and studying animal behavior and gives a memorable, meaningful experience to the abstract knowledge learnt in the classroom. 

In addition to the learning outcome, seeing some of the most iconic species in the world was a unique lifetime experience, and definitely unforgettable for me. We got the opportunity to work hands-on with orangutans, water monitor lizards, crocodiles, slow lorises, proboscis monkey and tarsiers.  All are species unique to the region.  

Eology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2014/15

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The Marine Mammal Field Course is truly a unique experience in my university life. The course provided opportunity for me to gain knowledge on cetaceans in an interactive way and to learn to conduct different types of survey. During the boat trips, we could see the movement of whales and hear the whistles of dolphins in a clear sea without busy transportation and with little marine litter.  It is always more impressive to learn the behavior of animals in a real classroom – the sea.  I could also feel the connection between nature when I saw hundreds of dolphins swimming close to us.  All of these are valuable experiences that I have never had before and are experiences that could never be given in traditional classroom courses. The field course also allowed me to compare the marine environment, biodiversity of marine mammals and conservation between Tanon Strait and Hong Kong.

I think the course is one of the most remarkable experiences that I had in my university life.  I still remember that I exclaimed for a while when I saw such a large group of dolphins for the very first time in my life.  In the past, I know little about how actually scientists conduct cetacean surveys.  During the trip, I learnt some principles behind the methods and tried conducting surveys with other classmates.  Although I might not engage in the field of marine ecology in the future, I have increased my interest on marine mammals and will pay much more attention on them in the future.  I am also very impressed by the enthusiasm of Dr. Karczmarski and demonstrators.  Thank you so much for organizing this amazing course for us! 

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2014/15   

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The Animal Behavior Field Course is definitely one of the most important and inspiring course I have ever taken. First of all, it was truly amazing to see all the Borneo wildlife in Sabah, including the endangered orangutan, the energetic long-tailed and pig-tailed macaques, the lovely otter, the colorful hornbills, the gigantic crocodile, etc. To see these animals we went on different adventures, such as boat trips along the Kinabatangan River in day time and night time, night walk into the forests, and going deep into the plantation. Among all the adventures we had I’m most impressed with the night boat trip in which we did a crocodile survey, we saw many baby crocodiles and water birds in a very short distance, and we were enjoying the breeze under millions of stars in the clear sky. If this course wasn't taken place in Sabah but instead in Hong Kong, we wouldn't have had the chance to see all the rare animals and have the wonderful and fruitful adventures.

Moreover, apart from meeting the awesome wildlife, it was also an incredible experience to join and have a taste of the various research projects there. It was my first time using the telemetry to find a collared animal, setting up a camera trap, doing a primate survey, using baby powder to find a spider web, etc. These various ‘first times’ together with the lectures given by different researchers there gave me an insight on how diverse it can be when conducting a scientific research. Furthermore, doing the mini-project in the course not only widened my horizon on how useful the photos from camera traps can be instead of just showing what kinds of animal live in the habitats, but also trained my critical thinking when doing data analysis. All in all, the Animal Behavior Field Course was fun and inspiring, it consolidated my passion towards animal studies, and it taught me to think from more perspectives when dealing with questions and problems, and all these teachings wouldn't have been so impressive if we weren’t learning them in the actual rainforest environment in Sabah. So thank you so much for offering me the opportunity to join this unforgettable course!  

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2014/15

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Offer of various overseas study opportunities is always one of the attractiveness in university life. This year, I was very lucky that I was given this chance to join a marine mammal field course in Cebu Island, Philippines. Unlike attending lectures as usual, the natural field site actually became our classroom, and we were really inspired by it.  Such kind of hands-on experience and teaching style, to me, is really effective and stimulating for learning.

Besides of this, we were also involved in the ongoing cetacean study there. In the course, while we were putting our knowledge into practice, we were also collecting data for the study. Therefore, the course was meaningful to student as well as the researchers there.  It really was effective in provoking our study interest and raising motivation of self-study.  Especially as ecology is always a cross-border subject, gaining overseas study and learning experience is important to our future career. Even we may not engage in foreign career, the experience in the field course definitely helps when we reflect on Hong Kong situation. I genuinely hope that other students in the coming years can also enjoy such a special and rare experience in their university life.  

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2014/15   

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The Animal Behaviour and Behavioural Ecology field course provided me a great opportunity to observe research in close-up.  Although the assignment we were required to do (writing report and giving presentation) at the end are more or less the same with other standard classroom courses, that was the process that matters.  During the field course we can observe animals that usually can only be seen from documentaries, discussing projects and exploring the nature with classmates who are also enthusiastic about ecology, and we were guided along by experienced professor, demonstrators and researchers from the local research center.  The experiences I gained in this course are for more inspiring and impressive than any other standard classroom courses!  I sincerely hope that there will be field courses like this every year to inspire more students who are interested in the growing field of ecological studies, and equip them with a unique practical experience.  What’s more, I hope that one day HKU can have a better cooperation with research centers overseas and provide students, even undergraduates, with chances to conduct a one-year-long research, just like what the Cardiff University is doing!  

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2014/15

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This Marine Mammal field course was certainly an enjoyable and fruitful experience. This course provided opportunity for us to have a taste in cetacean research and field surveys. We took part in Photo-ID and line-transect surveys which the researchers were really conducting during the field course. We spent long hours on board for surveys in consecutive days. We all did understand much more and thoroughly how different research methods were conducted and different behaviours of dolphins and whales from our own observations, on top of previously learned theories. Such real and hands-on experiences can hardly be achieved in any lectures or ordinary field trips in Hong Kong.  This field course also provided precious opportunity to see various cetacean species and in large groups, which can hardly be achieved in other experiences or field trips.  Meeting foreign and experienced researchers was another great experience provided by the course.  We could understand and learn from their sharing and other chances of communicating with them.

The marine mammal field course was really-really an enjoyable experience. Firstly, it gave us real experience on different research methods. Taking part in cetacean research was always one of the experiences I wanted to try.  Such hands-on experience was certainly irreplaceable. And I did find it interesting and fun.  Although I have not yet taken the marine mammal classroom course, I am now much more familiarized with some research methods and behaviours of cetaceans.  This course truly re-ignited my interests in cetaceans.  Seeing different species of dolphins and whales which cannot be found in Hong Kong is one of the thing I wanted to do since childhood. Some of them were in such big groups or showed different behaviours. Seeing and observing such behaviours on site were much more impressive than watching in any documentary or in lecture theories.  In fact, the Kogia is one of my favourite species and it was really exciting to find it in our last survey. It felt like treasure hunt in the searching process.

One of things that impressed me a lot was the enthusiasm of our teachers and demonstrators.  We can really feel the passion in them which made the trip much enjoyable and made me much easier to get involved into the survey experiences.  Teachers and demonstrators never resisted to answer our questions and were willing to share their experiences and their knowledge to us. I appreciate and really enjoyed this very much.

Having chance to meet local researchers like Likko and Edna was also one of the great experience. From sharing of their experiences and conversations with them, I could learn much more about marine mammals as well as other aspects of the place.  The arrangements of the course was good and it was great to have cooperations as groups throughout the trip. Accommodations and food were also great.  In all, the Marine Mammal Field Course was really a great and memorable experience. 

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2014/15

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The Animal Behaviour Field Course as an experiential learning experience is an important part of the Ecology and Biodiversity major in my opinion. The practical application of theories is crucial in studying ecology. Back in the classroom setting, we did learn a lot about conducting surveys and hence, this is a perfect chance for us to apply what we have been learning in the past three years. Apart from the many encounters with the diverse wildlife in Borneo, we had the opportunity to actually work with field scientists and take part in some of the ongoing research projects in the field centre, which was a rewarding and eye-opening experience into the field research. I think the exposure to overseas learning experience as well as ecology students from other universities is invaluable in the sense that we could actively learn under a totally different academic setting and culture facilitated by a lot of interactions. I am happy to share my experience with other students and would totally recommend them to take part in this field course in the future.  

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2014/15

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Joining the Animal Behavior Field Course was really a fruitful experience.  It offered me precious first-hand field experience to various wildlife in a tropical rainforest.  It also let me experience how doing researches in rainforest is actually like - it is not as simple as I imagine and there are much more to learn beyond textbook knowledge.  It required a lot of patience in observing wildlife and taking data.  Moreover, it also required much endurance besides mere passion in doing hours and hours of data analysis and paper work. Therefore, it gives me very essential experiences for deciding whether I am suitable to do academic research in the soon future. (Not to mention the delicious food and passionate persons that I came across.)  

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2013/14

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Going out to the field in person is actually a very effective way to learn. In the course, we got to follow different researchers to the field and looked at how actual research work was done. The whole process was interactive as it required mutual participation (e.g. asking questions) in order to keep the whole thing working, which is very different from the one-way nature of lectures having students mostly sitting there and listening.  I like asking questions and am passionate about the nature, so going to the field actually is a perfect way for me to learn.  Even back into the main building where we had our presentations and conferences, the interactiveness remained.  This is vital to get students involved.  I seldom attend conferences as I do not feel like I have to.  Yet, after the trip I do think conference is a good way to learn and I now show up more in conferences.  In fact, not just the way you learn, but experiential learning also facilitates how long you would remember what you learn.  When you get to see, to touch or even to work on it, you will remember it for a longer time.

Before the trip, I actually did not expect the course to be so advanced.  It actually required a lot of senses and knowledge of field research.  However, I realize that this is actually the weakness of most Hong Kong students: we always have our words spoken louder than actions.  We may have studied a lot of theories, but when it comes to application seldom could we do so nicely.  Therefore, this course is actually very useful to fill our gaps of “lack of experience” and has definitely enriched my perception of field research.

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2013/14

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The field course offered unique experiences to students that have never been possible in Hong Kong. The animal behavior course from the first semester had covered lots of materials and theory that are useful in the field. However, it is only this field course that offers students first-hand experiences in participating and designing animal behavior experiments focusing on terrestrial animals.

It was not easy to understand how complicated and limited an experiment could be until one has been into the actual sites. The tropical rainforest is an ever-changing environment. The unpredictability of the environment was always a tough task to over-come. Such experiences have further emphasized how much more considerations were needed in experimental designs, especially in logistics.

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2013/14

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Having chances to meet with researchers is a very good experience especially when you are provided with chances to do the field work together with them. This experience is not comparable to any lectures or courses I went to at the university. Knowing the ideas and reasons behind each little details of the experiment through experiencing and asking can never be done in campus, and the experience did definitely motivated me to ask and led me to think beyond the level I used to have in school. It is very impressive to see how much they are doing, how much they are sacrificing, on their own designed project. Previously I would not expect anyone would be doing such a hard work on researching in their study but it has changed my mind completely. Most importantly, what inspired me most was that we all were capable to criticize and to give feasible suggestion of improvements on their projects. It shows that what they are doing is not something out of our scope at all!  We all did a very good job in our presentation and we even did make up a very sensible plan and we even did conduct an experiment by ourselves. Thank you so much for whoever makes this field course possible, it really did inspire me, telling me that we are more capable than we think, we can do much more than what we expect. 

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2013/14

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It was my childhood dream to study the behavior of animals in the wild, and the dream came true when I first stepped on the boat in Moalboal. In this field trip I have learn a lot of new knowledge about marine mammal that is richer and more in depth than that from textbook. This trip is truly a fruitful and memorial experience for me.

The trip was more of an eye-opener than a research mission. It provided us a chance to observe the animals and apply different research techniques that we learnt from textbooks, like how to identify individuals from photos and how to apply the line transects technique in searching for the dolphins. We have also learnt that life as a researcher is not as easy as we think, they would face a lot difficulties that we did experience in the trip. There were many factors that affect the data collection. For example, bad weather can ruin the whole day for research, zero encounter can be happened throughout the whole day. And unexpectedly, no matter the photo identification and line transects, the data collection work is quite physically demanding since the researchers need to hold the heavy cameras and binoculars for hours. And of course, the researchers have to bear the sun burn, sea sickness, hot and wet weather, etc. We could never know and experience this kind hardship without onsite field work. 

The most wonderful thing about the field trip is that it is educational but in a special way. I think field trip is the best way to experience the work of researchers, whether it be just the photo sorting time or a nice boat survey since we can finally relate our own experience to what the researchers have done in the field centre. Most importantly, this enables us to actually enjoy studying in a field in which we are interested. 

To sum up, this field camp gained me solid foundations on marine mammal research and all the hands-on experiences echo with things we learned in lectures. On top of that, the trip brought to me friendships. I am very grateful to have the friendly teacher, TAs and researchers, they took good care of us and made the journey very enjoyable.  

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2013/14

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In the field course, I had followed different researchers in the field centre to gain hands-on experience about their research projects. This involved species from different taxa, both diurnal and nocturnal. These field studies were an important element for ecology students, as it was hardly learnt in a standard classroom based course. I gained more field research skills, which was important for my studies and in particular it helped a lot on my Final Year Project. As an ecology student in which field-based learning constitute a large proportion in study, gaining experience from a wide variety of researchers was valuable. It was a golden opportunity to participate especially in an overseas field trip, as this could widen our horizons on ecology in a more global aspect. In Sabah, there were many species that could not be found in Hong Kong. Having a chance to see them was one of my happiest and rewarding moments in the trip. It was particularly valuable for me to have a chance to follow the orangutan and observed their behaviour that I could hardly believe if it was not observed by my own eyes. For example, the mother orangutan was holding a leaf on top of its baby when it was raining heavily. It seemed so warm just like it was holding an umbrella for her baby!

After all, I found this field course enriched and deepened my interest in field learning and research. It is not just interesting to see different wildlife, but it is also meaningful when the research work can bring significance towards conservation. I would definitely want to participate more of this kind of field course if I have chance.  

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2013/14

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On site field experience is important to ecologists. It is also important for young ecologists to really get in touch with wild animals in their environment. Living in the wild like this for 10 days was a good experience not only to students in our major, but also for students that are broadly interested. It really makes you feel more connected to nature and makes you want to contribute to conservation in the future.

Danau Girang Field Centre, the field centre that we visited, is located in Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, Sabah, Borneo. The area it was in was fragmented with oil palm plantation. Oil palm was one of the biggest threat to the forest there, as the land used for planting oil palms were originally forests. The wildlife in the forest could not be supported by oil palm, as the fruits were not suitable to most of the species living there.

The experience I got from joining such wide variety of scientific projects in the field centre made me realize it was never easy to work in ecological studies, even in wildlife sanctuary. The encounter rate of many of the targeted animals here are so low, and you could hardly get any data. It is so different from what you could see from a documentary, where naturalists and photographers seem to encounter an animal every few steps. However, the persistence of the researchers here impresses me a lot. Personally, I worked on Hong Kong newts, Paramesotriton hongkongensis, for my final year project. Although the data collection was hard work, but there was data that I could collect, unlike here in Sabah, when it all depends on luck whether they could get any data today or tomorrow.

Discussing with various researchers in the centre also allowed me to think more deeply about experimental designs and how to face difficulties in scientific projects. This course enriches me as in providing me with the opportunities to exchange ideas and thoughts with foreign scientists. I learned so much more about ecological research than I could ever do from a book or lecture.

I was always aspired to be a documentary producer or photographer in the future, so I could promote conservation and love of nature to many others who live in concrete city, and do not have links with wildlife. This visit to the rainforest made me realize it was never an easy job to do so. The animals were never easy to locate or capture under your lens. But still, I was even more inspired to pursue my career in this aspect, as I realize what severe threats they were all currently under. I wish from my heart that these animals could find peace and safety in their natural environment in the future.

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2013/14

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The Marine Mammal Field Course is surely unique, enjoyable and unforgettable making it the best learning experience I ever had!  And believe it or not, joining this field course is one of the major reasons why I decided to study Ecology and Biodiversity.

As many other nature lovers, I love watching documentaries since I was a little girl, being a part of this course is like a dream-come-true to me as I can have hands on experience to do research with professionals from all over the world, not to mention the excitement we felt when we have close contact with wild marine mammals and to sight and identify them by ourselves, using the field techniques taught by professor and demonstrators.

During this trip we can frequently discuss and ask questions about our thoughts or observations of the animals. We won’t have this kind of learning experience unless we join the research in person. Also, we grow a bigger interest and are clearer about the meaning and challenges of field research in this course that equipped us with better insight to continue the study in this field.

I also gained a very good insight of scientific research career.  In my opinion, learning in practice is more effective than normal reading and tutoring because things become more memorable when a person is actually experiencing and gets in touch with the real animals.  It is also a faster way to gain knowledge as questions can be asked instantly once there are some special observations.

The course is super fun that we all become good friends with similar goals and interest after the trip, such friendship is surely not something you can easily gain through ordinary school lectures

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2013/14

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As an ecology student, it is undoubtedly a remarkable experience to visit the Borneo island with all the rich biodiversity after reading about them so many times in textbooks and notes. This field course not only brought us to the centre of tropical rain forests and wildlife, but also provided us the opportunities to get involved in real on-going research projects on animal ecology and behaviour. The presentations and a wide range of field activities available during the week exposed us to various research techniques, methods and hands-on experience in the field. Personal conversations with all the researchers and staff in the field centre are also very inspiring and informative on research and conservation work. I had the chance to know more about their study, what motivate them, the difficulties they face during their work and their daily life in the field centre. All these experiences and knowledge are important in the field of ecological researches that can hardly be taught through textbook or lectures. I am able to envisage how a career in research or conservation would be, and this is an exceptionally useful piece of information to most final year undergraduates as they plan their path after graduation. 

Ecology & Biodiversity

Marine Mammal Field Course:  academic year 2013/14

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In studying ecology, field experience is one of the most important elements that cannot be replaced by any classroom experience. It cannot be acquired by simply looking up guidebooks and reading text descriptions. Not to mention that this field course provided me a chance to experience field surveys in an environment new to me in the Philippines.  We also had opportunities to take part in surveys that are so different from those in Hong Kong, and to learn patience and endurance in various field conditions.

Apart from the importance in training myself in practical skills, this field course has given me precious personal experience.  It is my first time ever to come so close to wild cetaceans, to see a sea grass community, and to experience the marine environment in the Philippines.  I particularly enjoyed conducting the photo-identification survey as it is my interest to photograph wildlife.  Although the term 'survey' has sounded routine to me, now I understand how researchers treat it as mans of collecting data.  This course provides a very good opportunity for students to realize their own interest, and is thus highly recommended to all students interested in ecology. 

Ecology & Biodiversity

Animal Behaviour Field Course:  academic year 2013/14

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This field course was absolutely a unique experience for all Ecology and Biodiversity students. Unlike other field courses which usually just involve learning and exploration of wildlife and their environment, this trip allowed us to take part in research in the real world by passionate scientists, which are of scientific significance and influence. This kind of hands-on experience is not provided in other lecture-based courses. One thing that I liked about this field course is that we could participate in a lot of research projects within such a short period of time, thus we could get basic and new knowledge of many methodologies for different research purposes. We cannot get in touch with so many research projects in our daily studies. The seminars also reinforced our understanding of the concepts applied in different projects. With the chance to follow the researchers and help with their field work, I learned what sort of obstacles would be encountered, how they would deal with them and more importantly, how real world research can be like (such as living in a remote place). Knowing all these challenges made me re-consider what I want to pursuit after my graduation (e.g. further studies or a job). Doing the project is also an excellent opportunity for me and my classmates to apply concepts and knowledge that we have learnt in the first two years of our curriculum. I also enjoyed spending time with locals there to know more about their culture besides the academic experience. This field course is definitely one of the highlights of my undergraduate study. I am really glad that I enrolled in this field course.  

Ecology & Biodiversity