Turks and Caicos Marine Protected Areas - Once in a lifetime opportunity! Past Review

By Mikaela F (Natural Science/Biology, University of Puget Sound) for

The School for Field Studies / SFS: Turks and Caicos Islands - Marine Resource Studies

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

This program allowed me to see if working in coral reef ecosystems and combining policy with science background is something I want to do for the future and it completely validated that for me. It was amazing being able to live in another country and being able to experience a completely different lifestyle and setting than we have here in the U.S.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program?	1 month - 6 months

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	I thought academics were great, we learned a lot in the short amount of time that we were there. Teaching methods were mostly done with hands on work out in the field mainly snorkeling with some lecture and some group projects as well. Grading system was the same as in the U.S. Workload was manageable, with more of an emphasis on field-based learning there was not much reading or monotonous work to be done which was great.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	My expectations were met and blown away. This program was exactly what I wanted and more. I learned so much in the four weeks that I was there and felt like I got in depth knowledge of the ecosystem in Turks and Caicos, from policy, ecology and tourism perspectives of the situation that is present on South Caicos Island. The entire staff from the instructors to the site manager to the water saftey staff were all wonderful and were there to help whenever they were needed. It was also great since to develop connections with the staff as we all ate every meal together and they were always around. Program size was wonderful as we had about 25 students. I absolutely enjoyed every moment of my program abroad.
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	We were housed in what used to be an old hotel that is now the "center" where all staff and students stay. We had a kitchen with chefs to cook most of our meals, a swimming pool, an activities area, a sand volleyball court, and a dock on the water with 3 boats. We shared rooms of 4-6 with bunk beds in each room. The rooms did their job, but were not fancy by any means. Class was also located in the center and in the water. We were about a 5 minute walk away from night life as the island is small and everything is pretty close together.
* Food:	Food was great. They accommodated the vegetarians of the groups. We had muffins and usual breakfast food for breakfast which was low key. Generally sandwiches or some other cooked meal for lunch. Dinners were great and all the food was delicious. Meals were supplied for us all days and on Sunday we would cook for ourselves.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	All field trips were great! We also got to camp out one night on the beach and have a bonfire and a bonding trip which was great! Also our whole group of 25 would go out every Saturday night which was one of the best times of the trip. Also to be able to interact with the locals was great to just talk to them and hear about their lives on the island and see their perspectives.
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?
* Safety:	Safety was great, there was a clinic on the island if anything happened. We had a water safety team to make sure that everyone was safe while in the water.
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	Yes

Finances

* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget? (1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Other Program Information

* Where did you live? Select all that apply	Other
* Who did you live with? Select all that apply	Americans

A Look Back

* What did you like most about the program?	Work in the field Faculty and staff on site Interaction with locals
* What could be improved?	Longer summer course!
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	One that is able to not have all the amenities of life in the U.S. such as running water or hot showers every day. Also a student who is open to learning and really enjoys coral reef ecosystems and hands on learning!

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:	Marine Protected Areas: Management Techniques and Policies
Course Department:
Instructor:	Pete Parker, Ph.D., Eva Toth, Ph.D., Annemarie Kramer, Ph.D.
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	The course was challenging as it was fast paced, being only a month long. Great use was made of the location as most of class time was spent out in the field rather than having lectures in class. All of the teachers were very knowledgeable in their area of expertise as they each taught separate sections of the course. The course flowed well even with four different teachers and information was well presented. Participation was slightly more as it was such a small group and activities were hands on and generally split up in two different groups so as to create a better learning opportunity for everyone. I would have like to go more in depth with what we learned because it was all so interesting, but the teachers did a great job at getting out a lot of information in a small amount of time. Being at the field school for the whole semester would have been great.
Credit Transfer Issues:	None!