Article written for the Miami Student, Issue date: 3/28/06
This spring break, while many students were lying on the beach or relaxing at home, a group of seven Miami University students and three faculty members teamed up with the Universidad Autonoma de Tamaulipas (UAT) in Mexico for a workshop on migratory birds.
Roughly 10 years ago, Miami and UAT signed an agreement to provide college credit to students from both schools who would participate in a field study involving birds who make their winter home in Mexico then migrate to the Oxford area for the remainder of the year, according to students who participated in the trip.
The purpose of the workshop was to pair up students from Miami and UAT to select their own personal bird and then practice observation, banding and conservation of their bird. The goal of the trip was to allow students hands-on experience dealing with various techniques learned in the classroom, as well as an opportunity to see every aspect of a migrant birds' life.
"Birds are an environmental indicator of the state of the overall ecosystem," said graduate student Sam Buggs. "If certain bird populations decrease, like many are presently doing, it is a direct reflection on how we as humans are treating our environment."
The whole process of banding and observing birds is not an easy task, according to students who embarked on the trip. Most days for these students and faculty began around 4:30 a.m. to set up a number of 12-by-40 foot nets necessary to catch the birds safely.
If the students started too late, they risked not being able to band the birds because of the scorching heat.
Students agreed that the trip was a unique cultural experience. One of the achievements of the trip, according to graduate student Nicole Berzins, was the way a shared interest could triumph over cultural and language barriers.
"We have a common goal, to study the birds so that together we can help people better understand the importance of protecting these amazing birds," Berzins said.
Despite the immense knowledge gained from this trip, much is yet to be learned about the migratory birds that served as the subject of this project, which will continue in May when the students from Mexico travel to Miami to participate in the second part of the workshop.
The trip was sponsored in part by Avian Research and Education Institute (AREI), a non-profit organization started by Dave Russell and Jill Russell, who also took part in the trip. For more information on AREI, visit www.avianinstitute.org/index.html.
