It is with mixed emotions that the Board of Trustees of the School for Field Studies (SFS) has accepted the intent of our President, Jim Cramer, to retire by no later than August 31, 2025. Over the past twelve years, he has compiled an enviable record — expanding SFS’s presence from four countries to centers in twelve countries across six continents, more than doubling annual revenue, moving us closer to long-term financial sustainability with balanced budgets, expanding our research capacity, leading us prudently through the dark years of COVID, engaging the talents of our more than 20,000 alumni, and imaginatively projecting SFS onto a broad media landscape. While his pending departure is difficult to contemplate, Jim originally promised to serve for five years and has now dedicated twelve years to SFS, making his service deeply appreciated and his retirement well-earned.

Reflecting on his tenure at SFS, Cramer said, “While we have considerably expanded our reach across the globe, I would like to think that it is the quality of our field research, the impact we’ve had on the communities in which we live and work, and the transformative power of our programs on students that define the last dozen years.”

The Board of Trustees has established a Search Committee to oversee the process of finding the next SFS President, and more details will be shared in the coming months.

Never has the mission of SFS resonated so much with a generation, and never has our mission been so critically important. We look forward to continuing to offer challenging experiences to our students as we enter this new chapter of leadership for SFS.

We will continue to update the SFS community as more information becomes available. Stay tuned for announcements on the leadership transition and the exciting future of SFS.

Her Majesty Queen Mother Tseyring Pem Wangchuck delivers her remarks at the awards ceremony

This year, the award was presented to Her Majesty Queen Mother Tseyring Pem Wangchuck on behalf of the Kingdom of Bhutan. In addition to this remarkable accolade, Her Majesty was also bestowed with the Champion of Rising Leaders Award, a testament to her outstanding efforts in inspiring and nurturing the next generation of environmental leaders.

The highlight of the evening was Her Majesty’s insightful remarks at the award ceremony.

After the award presentation, Dr. Nawang Norbu, the Center Director of the SFS Bhutan Center for Climate and Sustainable Futures, participated in a compelling panel discussion, sharing the stage with fellow Bhutanese environmental leaders. The panel was expertly moderated by M. Margaret McKeown, a Senior United States Circuit Judge from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Dr. Norbu’s participation was a testament to his expertise and commitment to Bhutan’s agri-food and energy sector, climate justice, and his passionate belief in the importance of every citizen becoming a conservationist to ensure a sustainable future.

The recognition and honor bestowed upon Bhutan and its leaders in the realm of conservation serve as a source of inspiration for all of us. It is a reminder that collective efforts to protect our environment and inspire the next generation of environmental stewards can lead to a brighter, more sustainable future.

Dr. Nawang Norbu (in the middle) engages in a discussion panel with fellow Bhutanese environmental leaders and justice McKeown

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Curious about the SFS Bhutan Center? Click here to read about why we’re based there, our environmental research focus, how we support the local community, and even take a virtual tour of the Center.

We catch bats at night, identify the species, take measurements, and then free the bats. The more people know about the environmental services and the ecology of bats, the more they would protect them.

 
Sometimes we let our feelings influence our perception of reality. Reality cannot change because of what we feel or think, but the facts of nature could change our perception. For example, some people like to take a shower with cold water, while others prefer hot water. It does not matter if the water is hot or cold, water is still water, and we need it not only to keep clean but to live. Likewise, some people like bats, and others do not. It doesn’t matter whether you like them or not. That does not change the fact that bats perform important ecological roles which we also need for our survival.

 

A fruit-eating bat that builds its roost using palm leaves. The striped yellow-eared bat (Vampyriscus nymphaea), caught during an SFS Costa Rica field trip to Manu Reserve in the Caribbean slope (Photo: Ricardo Sánchez-C).

 

I am one of those people who loves bats, but I don’t expect all people to like them. However, I think that more people should know about the things that bats do for us. Here are three of the most important facts about bats.

#1: If you eat cornflakes for breakfast or dress in clothes made of cotton, you have bats to thank. If you just enjoyed a movie with popcorn and then a glass of wine, you should say thanks to bats. This is because bats help farmers improve food production. Most bats feed on insects and some of those insects are agricultural pests. Through their pest control service, bats lower the production costs for farmers–and for you.

That is not all. Some bats also feed on nectar. They feed on specific flowers (e.g., dragon fruit flowers), and through their pollination service, the flowers transform into bigger and tastier fruits! (Bats also pollinate the agave from which tequila is made).

 

A rare and unique species, the Tome´s sword-nosed bat (Lonchorhina aurita) caught during an SFS Costa Rica field trip to Manu Reserve in the Caribbean slope (Photo: Ricardo Sánchez-C).

 

#2: Maybe you’ve heard Dracula´s legend (in which a count from Transylvania transforms into a bat to suck the blood of his victims). Although there are some real vampire bats, not all bats are vampires. There are more than 1,400 different species of bats in the world and only three are true vampires. One of them feeds on mammals´ blood, but you are not on the menu. Believe it or not, vampire bats have made great contributions to medicine. Scientists have obtained a very efficient anticoagulant from the vampire bat’s saliva. This substance is used in antithrombotic therapy. Therefore, vampire bats are important despite not being cute. Meanwhile, other bat species–like the Honduran White Bat–are so cute that they just might surprise you. They look like miniature teddy bears.

One of the cutest bats, a group of Honduran white bats (Ectophylla alba) found in their roost during an SFS Costa Rica field trip to Manu Reserve in the Caribbean slope (Photo: Ricardo Sánchez-C).

 
#3: Bats do not carry or transmit SARS-COV2. This means you cannot get the COVID-19 virus from bats because they do not have it. Scientists have found one bat species with a variant of the virus that is 96% genetically similar to the human virus. Maybe you think this is enough to conclude that bats carry the same virus. However, humans and chimpanzees share 96% of their genes but belong to different species. People keep looking for the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic virus, but we don’t have to look for it on bats or any other animal. High deforestation rates, forest fragmentation, pollution, human overpopulation, and human encroachment in natural areas are the real triggers.

Whether we like it or not, our unsustainable lifestyle is responsible for the current pandemic. We still have the chance to ameliorate and decrease our impacts. It is about time we take nature into account. It is time to give bats a break and let the facts of nature, instead of our feelings, speak for them!

We catch bats at night, identify the species, take measurements, and then free the bats. The more people know about the environmental services and the ecology of bats, the more they would protect them.

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Curious to learn a bit more about the SFS Costa Rica Center? Click here to read about why we’re based there, our environmental research focus, how we connect and support the local community, and even take a tour of the Center.

The intention of the expedition was for the group to have a rainforest experience and to learn a little about how regenerative agriculture is a sustainable way to produce food and conserve the rainforest.

– David, SFS Australia Center Director

 

A panoramic shot of the sight that greets visitors to the SFS Australia Center.
 
We have been missing the usual laughter of our students at the SFS Australia Center for Rainforest Studies, but we have been keeping ourselves busy and finding ways to bring activity to the Center. Promoting environmental literacy is part of the mission of SFS, and we do not need to limit this to undergraduates. And while Australia borders are still closed for international travel, we sought to reach out to local groups.

Recently, we were visited by a group of 24 wonderful people aged 3 to >50 years. The group consisted of members of the Brazilian non-profit environmental organization Novo Encanto (literally translated as “New Enchantment”) who currently reside in Australia, mostly in the southern states. Working closely with the organizers from the Novo Encanto group, we ran what is the first SFS-Novo Encanto expedition (23rd – 27th April). The intention of the expedition was for the group to have a rainforest experience and to learn a little about how regenerative agriculture is a sustainable way to produce food and conserve the rainforest.

Usually, we call our programs “courses” or “fieldtrips”, but we called this event an expedition, and words have latent power. Just by calling the event an expedition invokes the energy of one. Four days before our expeditioners arrive, some 500mm of torrential rain fell in the region, rendering our access road unnavigable for vehicles. It was too late to get the road regravelled before the group arrived. From then on getting into and out of the Center was a little trek through the rainforest for our expeditioners – the event was now truly an expedition.

And then the rain continued. But true expeditioners are not afraid of a little rain. Walks in and out of the Center gave our expeditioners, who are mostly city-dwellers, the opportunity to imbibe the rainforest environment and also interact and build camaraderie.
 

What is an expedition without some walking!
 
As part of the planned activities, we delivered lectures on regenerative agriculture and visited Petals in the Park, a Syntropic farm, where our hosts Neil and Jane Hawes showed everyone why regenerative agriculture is a pathway to a sustainable future for the world’s food needs and for the environment.
 

Dr. Deborah Apgaua gives a talk about regenerative agriculture.
 

Getting the “real deal” of how a regenerative Syntropic farm looks and feels at the Petals in the Park farm in the Atherton Tablelands.
 
We also brought the group to visit some spots in the Atherton Tablelands, and in particular to see the iconic Curtain Fig Tree, a c. 500-year-old giant strangling fig. There we explained some of the fascinating intricacies of fig biology from the way strangling fig trees start their life in the forest canopy, to the way they get pollinated.
 

The iconic Curtain Fig tree of the Atherton Tablelands.
 
A visit to Australia’s Wet Tropics is never complete without a swim. So to top it off, we also brought expeditioners to have a swim and barbeque at the gorgeous Lake Eacham, a volcanic lake with azure waters and surrounded by lush rainforest.
 

It will be hard to swim in a chlorinated pool after this…
 
Three days is a short time to spend in this marvellous part of the world, but we love to think that having the opportunity to spend some quality time in the tropical rainforest and to learn a little about ways we can have a more sustainable and green future is well worth it. We are hoping also to make such expeditions a more regular activity in the repertoire of the SFS Australia Center.

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Curious to learn a bit more about the SFS Australia Center? Click here to read about why we’re based there, our environmental research focus, how we connect and support the local community, and even take a tour of the Center.

The SFS community worldwide wants to make our voice heard that we strongly reject the bigotry and violence directed toward our fellow citizens of Asian heritage, and to the contrary, welcome and value people for the unique gifts and talents they offer.

Yet all these marvelous moments are currently overshadowed by recent statements by the WHO, the State Department and the CDC regarding travel and COVID-19, and we, like all SFS centers, are in the midst of working closely with sending schools about students being recalled to their homes.

It’s been a hard few days for our dear students and many other students studying around the world. No one wants to be sent home from a place they chose and dreamed and worked to come to, and many American students abroad now face that reality.

Human communities are tested in times of stress—sometimes we rise, sometimes we fall. I trust that we at SFS, scattered around the world, will rise.

These are strange and uncertain times, and in such times, I often turn to poetry. This poem by Hafiz, the 14th century Sufi mystic, is resonant and timely in this current global moment:

 
A Great Need
Out
Of a great need
We are all holding hands
And climbing.
Not loving is a letting go.
Listen,
The terrain around here
Is
Far too
Dangerous
For
That.

 
It is time to keep holding on to each other, whatever that looks like for our centers and students and staff. There is evidence that practicing social distancing and ‘flattening the curve’ of the spread of the virus, is a compassionate and responsible practice at this juncture for the sake of our health care providers and the vulnerable among us, wherever we are in the world. Our aim here at the Cambodia Center is to hold onto each other with courage and compassion–even if that looks different than the semester we had planned and hoped for.

 

An elderly homestay family from an island in the Mekong River

 

A student steals a quiet moment during a village homestay last month

 
For the most up-to-date information on SFS’ response to the COVID-19 novel coronavirus and how it is impacting our programming, please visit https://fieldstudies.org/health-safety-covid-19/.

 
→ Conservation and Development Studies in Cambodia

When I decided to spend my spring semester abroad, I was excited to live in the Himalayas, and eager to learn about Bhutan’s environment. Like most people, I was nervous about trying to make a home on another continent, but excited by the prospect of this challenge. While we have all had to face this challenge, students abroad during this semester have also had to face the unexpected challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic. No one signed up for this challenge, but this is the situation we have been given and I think there really is a lot to be learned from it.

 

Dochula Pass

 
The SFS Bhutan program focuses on Himalayan Environment and Development. Bhutan is a unique country in that it really just opened up to the rest of the world in the 1960’s and is currently in the midst of an incredible time of transition due to globalization and development. Bhutan is a small country and depends on India for imports, including timber, food, and machinery. But Bhutan also exports an incredible amount of hydropower to India and in this way these two countries are not only geographically adjoining but also mutually interdependent. Today, tourism also plays an important role in Bhutan’s economy and any foreigner who visits must pay a daily sustainable development fee and travel with a local guide. At the beginning of our semester we considered Bhutan’s difficult task of balancing tourism with local traditions and environmental conservation. COVID-19 is causing us to revisit our class conversations – what will be long-term consequences if Bhutan’s borders are closed and imports / exports are halted, what will happen as tourism in Bhutan declines? And I think this is a global worry – COVID-19 does not discriminate based on nationality so in a way, the world is united against this, but countries also have to make difficult decisions about their accessibility and the health of their own people.

 

Phobjikha Valley

 
Every day COVID-19 shows the world just how interconnected we really are. In this way, the rapid spread of COVID-19 has fit into our classroom discussions of globalization and intercountry relations well and continues to push our thinking. As countries begin to make decisions to close borders, a country’s lack of self-sustainability could pose a real problem. While most of the time (hopefully) we are not faced with a global pandemic such as COVID-19, I think it challenges us to consider whether countries should be more self-sustaining. In February our professors here in Bhutan asked us to consider whether globalization is a good thing. Should countries be so connected and interdependent? It’s complicated. This is a question I think we are all considering as we watch COVID-19 spread around the world, directly illustrating human travel and connection. And as we consider how to ensure equal access to testing and healthcare as we combat this global pandemic. Here in Bhutan, COVID-19 has given us all an opportunity to reflect on the privilege we have to cross so many borders and live so far away from our homes in a more real and urgent way as well as a new perspective with which to view potential consequences of this interconnection.

Countries across the world are responding to COVID-19 differently. I have been impressed by how quickly Bhutan responded to COVID-19 and the immediate seriousness they impressed upon the matter of health and safety in their country. I have also been able to watch from afar as my home country, the United States, responds differently. And over meals with my professors, I have been able to ask questions about how COVID-19 affects and is affected by a country’s governmental structure and political environment. No one can really predict what’s going to happen in the coming weeks, but I can only hope that we are all able to take some deep breaths, wash our hands, and, since we cannot change the presence of COVID-19 and the implications it has had for our semester abroad, reflect on what we can learn from it.

 

Punakha

For the most up-to-date information on SFS’ response to the COVID-19 novel coronavirus and how it is impacting our programming, please visit https://fieldstudies.org/health-safety-covid-19/.

 
→ Himalayan Environment and Development Studies in Bhutan

Assessing climate change vulnerability on the Tonle Sap Lake: A study of Prek Sromoach Village in Kampong Khleang Commune, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Robyn Lee (Tufts University), Isabella Solano (Seattle Pacific University)
Under the supervision of Professor Ming Li Yong, Ph.D.
 

 

Observing the unique flooded forest ecosystem of the Tonle Sap Lake

 
The Environmental Concern: Cambodia is highly vulnerable to climate change, ranking eighth out of 193 countries in the 2014 Climate Change Vulnerability Index. The country’s vulnerability stems from a high frequency of, and sensitivity to, climate hazards such as flooding. Ninety percent of the country’s population is dependent on depleting natural resources and live in rural areas that may be flood prone. There also lacks strong governmental support of vulnerable people in the country.

Fisheries are of particular concern. Eighty percent of Cambodia’s protein comes from fish and many livelihoods depend on resources from the country’s freshwater systems. Climate change and human development are degrading water quality and reducing fish populations, and these impacts are expected to rise over time. The Tonle Sap Lake is one of the world’s most productive inland fisheries and accounts for sixty-seven percent of Cambodia’s fishing industry. The Tonle Sap not only provides fish protein and supports livelihoods, but it is also ingrained in Cambodian culture. However, the Lake’s economic, ecological and cultural value is threatened, making it a critical area in which to study climate vulnerability.

This study aimed to assess the vulnerability of a Tonle Sap Lake community using three indicators: 1) the level of exposure to climate events and impacts; 2) the degree of sensitivity of fishing livelihoods and fish populations to climate change; and 3) the adaptive capacity of those who are dependent on fishing livelihoods.

 
The Methods: The study took place in the village of Prek Sromoach in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia. Investigating climate change vulnerability is particularly relevant to people here due to their reliance on fish and other freshwater resources. This village has also experienced flooding and other environmental challenges in the past that have harmed their livelihoods.

SFS students developed a bottom-up methodology to assess community vulnerability to climate change through a livelihoods lens. With the assistance of an interpreter, students conducted one-hour semi-structured interviews with 30 households in the village. Interviewees included key informants such as the village chief and community fishery leaders.

 

Conducting semi-structured interviews with households

 

Learning about traditional fishing gear on the Tonle Sap Lake

 
The Results: Most villagers noticed that rainy season arrived later than usual in 2019 and that water levels in the Tonle Sap receded more quickly than in previous years. Ninety-two percent of interviewees also noted a significant decline in fish populations and daily catch. Climate change, hydropower development, deforestation, and illegal fishing are likely to exacerbate the pressure on fishing livelihoods. These results are consistent with academic studies on the lake’s fish stocks and indicate that Prek Sromoach demonstrates a high degree of sensitivity to climate change.

The Impact: The lack of livelihood options may have worrying implications related to the community’s limited capacity to expand their skill sets to seek out new jobs in the village and elsewhere. Several respondents said they migrated seasonally to take up jobs in the construction and industrial sector in Cambodia or Thailand, however, many respondents lacked the financial means to switch livelihoods or to migrate for work. The adaptive capacity of the village to climate change therefore appears to be somewhat low.

These results indicate that Prek Sromoach is highly vulnerable to climate change. This study contributes to a consensus among researchers that Tonle Sap Lake communities may be disproportionately subject to the adverse impacts of climate change.

 

Bella (left) and Robyn (right) and their poster presentation at community night!

 
Click here to see the poster.

 
→ Conservation and Development Studies in Cambodia

Global attention has been called to the fires raging in the southern Amazon basin during the past two weeks, notable for the high spate in such a short time and for the arrival of dense smoke to major populations centers outside of Brazil’s Amazonian regions (Although not record-breaking according to historical statistics). Here at the SFS Center for Amazon Studies in Peru, you might think that we are also in the thick of it. However, while some regions in the southern Peruvian border with Brazil are experiencing heavy smoke and could be at risk for the spread of these uncontrolled fires, we are located in the northwestern Amazon, thousands of kilometers away and are experiencing it much like you.

Fires do occur in our region of the Amazon but have some major differences with those fires that have garnered global concern. Like in most of the Amazon, fire here is primarily caused by people. But in our region, controlled fires are still being traditionally used as a tool to maintain small-scale agricultural production primarily in a swidden-fallow cycle that, when managed correctly, can be productive and does not require clearing of new, mature forest areas.

 

Photos courtesy of SFS Dean, Dr. Mark Seifert

 
In a swidden-fallow cycle, there is a cycle of small-scale clearing, cultivation, agroforestry production of other products and then a period of forest regrowth before the process is repeated on the same plots of land, mostly avoiding the clearing of new forest⁽¹⁾. Though traditional tropical swidden-fallow practices have often been put under the same umbrella as any clearing and burning in the tropics, research has shown that, in fact, such practices can maintain diversity on the landscape⁽²⁾. In contrast, the types of fires currently raging in the Brazilian Amazon are much more extensive and used to permanently transform forest to cattle pasture or agricultural land, and often follow heavy extraction of timber by illegal logging operations.

Nevertheless, if we hope to avoid a similar fate in our region and other parts of the Amazon, the current situation in Brazil has us reflecting on an important central question: As people are responsible for the majority of Amazonian forest fires, what is motivating an increase in this individual behavior that can have collective consequences? What social and political processes are incentivizing the deforestation and burning scenario we are currently seeing in the southern Amazon? In other words, what circumstances and state policies created conditions for an increase in deforestation?

Many new reports have implied that Brazil’s model for economic development of the Amazon based colonization and transformation, which had slowed in recent years, has gotten a new boost from the country’s new president. This in turn emboldened people interested in short-term extractive exploitation of Amazonian riches, opening the way for agro-industrial and mining operations. This follows the old development model introduced since the colonization of the Americas, basing growth on transformation to a domesticated agricultural landscape and extraction of non-renewable resources. Another contributor may be the weak land-holding power and protection given to Indigenous Amazonian people, whose self-proclaimed interests and livelihood strategies are deemed to be less important than national interests driven by larger urban populations and often viewed as backwards and obstructionist to the interests of more powerful outside players in a nation’s economy. Did the two ideas above give you déjà vu of circumstances you’ve heard about in other areas of the world or even your neck of the woods recently or historically? Clearly this is an idea deserving of more reflection and serious analysis than a blog post can do justice to. I invite you to dig beyond the headlines and question if and how WE need to alter our behavior and policies if we wish to opt for a different model for the future of the Amazon.

1. Vandermeer, John and Ivette Perfecto. 1995. Breakfast of Biodiversity. Institute for Food and
Development Policy.

2. Ravikumar, Ashwin et. al. 2017. Is small-scale agriculture really the main driver of deforestation
in the Peruvian Amazon? Moving beyond the prevailing narrative. Conservation Letters 10(2): 170-177.

 
→ Development Studies in the Amazon, Peru