I Can Now Tick Off Costa Rica From My Bucket-List!
Howdy all! Greetings from Ostional, Costa Rica!
My name is Brie and I'm the team's sea turtle endocrinologist. One of our field hands, MJ, and I recently arrived on July 3rd, but you'd better believe that we have certainly been busy from the moment we arrived! Our journey out of the US and into Central America was interesting to say the least. Working in remote locations where you may not have easy access to sampling supplies requires a mountain of planning ahead of time, including how you might transport your equipment to your field site. In order to mitigate this, each member of our team had to bring some supplies with them in their baggage, I was lucky enough to bring the large liquid nitrogen container which was an alien object to most of the passengers and airport personnel that we encountered. We went through extra security and fielded tons of questions about what this object was (and if it was dangerous!), but that's all in a day's work.
I entered Costa Rica with exhilaration in my soul, but heaviness in my heart. I found out last week that my sweet, supportive great-grandmother had had a stroke and was in a coma. I felt a lot of internal conflict with my upcoming departure to Costa Rica and a desire to be with my family during this difficult time. How can you choose between your life's dream and the people who make your life worth living? I was told, in no uncertain terms, that Grandma Evie would never want to see me miss that plane, and that as long as I worked hard every day and did my best, she would be proud of me. It is with that in mind that I dedicate this blog post to my loving family, who are struggling at the moment, and especially to the memory of my kind great-grandmother. I hope that they know that every moment my mind is not with the turtles, it's with them. It is extremely difficult to be apart from them, and especially "off-the-grid" in another country when things like this happen, but we all must make sacrifices for the things that we believe in.
My first few days here have already proven to be a life-affirming experience. To be able to go out on a boat and capture wild sea turtles is a dream that many have but few are able to realize. To finally stand on the beaches that I've been seeing photos of and hearing stories about for so long is profound on its own, but to work closely with Chris to design and now implement field sampling of turtles in the water is the embodiment of my childhood hopes. I am so excited about this collaboration because Chris and I share many interests in sea turtle physiology and reproduction, but the way in which we prefer to go about answering our questions requires different approaches. What is so special about this collaboration is that we are able to generate a massive amount of data while pooling resources. I don't want to give too much away, but this project includes but is not limited to: hormone analysis, gonadal ultrasound, genetics and radio as well as satellite telemetry. We hope to make the most out of every encounter we have with a sea turtle by generating useful information and developing physiological tools for sea turtle conservation.
My journey into sea turtle work has inspired me to change my life in ways that I never could have predicted. I've traveled all over the USA and now have begun to traverse the world for turtle conferences, internships and now research. I was also motivated to learn Spanish in hopes of one day being able to conduct important scientific research in a Latin American country. Though I've studied Spanish for years and even earned a minor in it in my undergraduate career, I still am more than a stone's throw from fluency. One of my personal goals for this summer is to improve my language skills and finally reach the point of being able to express myself fluently in the language.
This goal seems within reach, as we are living with host families and working with field assistants who patiently chat with me to help me practice. I am so grateful for the warm welcome that the Costa Rican people have given me, and I can't wait to see what adventures this summer holds. Stay tuned here to share in the experience with us!
