My name is Kathleen
Copeland-Fish, and I am a senior graduating this spring. I am working as a
Conservation Biologist with Dr. Mike Gilmore from the New Century Learning
College on a project based in Peru. In
the Sucarsari River Basin, a tributary of the Amazon River, live a small tribe
of indigenous Indians, the Maijuna. In
the 19080’s and 90’s, their ancestral lands were threatened with logging and
many of the animals they depended on for hunting had disappeared with the onset
of the loggers. Dr. Gilmore helped lead the efforts to protect Maijuna lands
and set them aside as a permanent sanctuary, acting as a go-between for the
Maijuna, logging companies, and the Peruvian government. Since then, he has kept in contact with the
Maijuna and done research with their approval in their lands and with their
people.
My part in this
research is that of data analysis. There are one hundred camera traps set in 273
square kilometer range, 40 of which are set in the rainforest canopy and 60 are
set at the bases of trees. The goal of setting the camera traps is to record
animal movement through the rainforest.
The ten second video clips and pictures have been put on an external
hard drive, which I then go through and score. I identify and tally the species
that pass in front of the camera traps, and enter the data into a database. As
I go through and watch the videos I have seen some of the most amazing animals
in Peru. Jaguars, giant ant eaters, pumas, the rare short eared dog, and toucans
are just a small sample of what I have seen.
This research has taught me patients and perseverance when analyzing
data, and taught me how to identify animals by fur patterns, the end of a tail,
and a glimpse of a head. This will help me with data entry later in my career
and has been a great way to get involved in research during my senior year.
