Programs Blog

Author: Emily Concepcion, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

A restless night of mosquito bites and tummy aches brought morning ever so early. Today was our first time going out to collect real data for our research.

Before we headed out, we learned about leadership styles. Despite having different places on the spectrum of leadership, we learned about how to interact and better communicate with others. It was great to hear the perspectives of everyone.

After our leadership exercises, we began our first adventure out into the field.

Several mistakes were made along the way. For example, the monopod could slip apart or would get caught on the shallow reef. Meanwhile, some people would have issues with data collection and some would misplace the camera. Overall, for our first mission we tried our best and it was great to see all of the life within the corals.

For a group of college students figuring out the basics of marine life, it wasn’t so bad. I am still proud of the team for making it thus far and I am grateful for an amazing community.

Grateful to family and friends who helped me get this far and a special thanks to our lovely hosts at Tubakula.

Goodnight Fiji, see you tomorrow.

(Another special thanks to the eel who didn’t shock me!)