On average, the man only makes a little over a dollar per day from collecting aluminum cans and plastic water bottles that he sells to a local recycling center. But he adds that people often give me food and money as well, and several people purposefully keep cans to give to me. I guess they pity me… When he was younger he worked as a low paid mechanic and second hand electronic goods trader. But as he got older he found it difficult to work with his hands. Around the same time, cheap electronic goods flooded the market and he found it hard to get by. Landless, alone, and with no capital or assets he found himself squatting next to a pagoda in Siem Reap.

As he hobbles off to prepare his bike, I ask his neighbor what will happen when they are finally evicted from their corrugated iron and wooded huts sprawling along a laneway that is being flattened by provincial authorities. She pauses as if not entirely sure herself; we will find somewhere to rent…….cheap rent…. around town…. so we can keep doing recycling….” she says as her solemn expression reveals she is not entirely convinced by her own words. But we will take care of that grandpa wherever we go and make sure he’s fed. The residents always knew the time would eventually come when they were forced to leave – drawn by desperation and landlessness they managed to postpone the cruel market logics of rising land prices and gentrification for more than a decade.
 

Photo taken by Dr. Tim Frewer

Urban recyclers in Siem Reap have a contradictory existence. On the one hand their labor is peripheral to the needs of capital. They are the people excluded from labor markets due to age, sickness, caring responsibilities, indebtedness, or circumstance (rural migrants, deaths in the family, separation from partners etc.). It is in this desperate state that their labor meets with capital (in the form of depot owners who buy recyclable goods off them). Yet capital knows it has the upper hand and pays this fractured and injured work force a piece rate well below the cost of living. The average monthly income from our sample of 94 waste pickers was just over USD100. The recyclers have to scrabble together a livable income from precarious construction work, debt, begging and remittances.

For the poorest recyclers redistribution is an important part of their existence; like the old man, they work hard to get food, money and recyclable goods from those better off than them. So too their own mutual aid networks – mostly other recyclers – make sure the poorest do not go hungry. In a context where the state takes almost no responsibility for those who are too sick, old or burdened to earn income, these redistributive relations and mutual aid networks are crucial.

Yet simultaneously the labor of recyclers moves thousands of kilograms of material throughout the city every day. Their labor produces the most important environmental service in the city. Collectively, the unwaged recycler labor force is by far the most important and numerous labor force involved in solid waste disposal. Recyclers sift through undifferentiated waste throughout the city carefully removing aluminum cans, plastic bottles, cardboard and scrap metal. Even after disposal at waste dumps, hundreds of recyclers sift through piles of waste to extract recyclables.

How did it end up like this? They are the poor, sick, disabled, single mothers, elderly who are rejected from the formal labor force, and unable even to do small scale trading, squatting on marginal lands or barely making rent at the edges of the city. How did it happen that these people were drawn together due to discarded piles of bottles and cans?

To answer this, we have to first start with the waste.

The can started its life as a technology to feed European settlers as they fought wars and violently settled colonized lands. In its aluminum form, it helped to transport across the world the excesses of the colonial plantation system (sugar in the form of soda). The soda can was made of aluminum due to newly discovered industrial processes that could cheaply extract aluminum from bauxite ore (at great cost of energy – but which was subsidized by cheap fossil fuels, the cost of which is being paid now).

American smelting companies like Alcoa accumulated incredible profits through expanded war time production and the insatiable demand for sugary drinks that has not relented in the eight decades following the end of World War II. In that time the aluminum can -carrying a seemingly endless supply of cheap sugary drinks, has been exported to every corner of the world with little thought of what happens to the discarded waste. That the aluminum can is technically 100% recyclable was an afterthought – even in its home country it has only ever reached a 50% recycling rate. What chance does Cambodia have of dealing with an ever increasing mass of aluminum cans when the formal waste disposal system barely covers half the population?

The story of plastic bottles follows a similar trajectory. Bottled mineral water originated in 17th century England alongside the belief that mineral waters had special rejuvenating and healing qualities. By the mid-19th century, at the peak of scientific racism when the English were desperately looking for a scientific basis for colonial subjugation, these ideas had morphed into something new. Namely, that temperate spas (and their waters) were rejuvenating for the “white constitution” that was forged in the cool temperate climate, and due to colonialism was living in the dangerous tropics. Around the same time the French were setting up hill stations and colonial spas in Vietnam and Cambodia as a remedy to the perceived ills of the tropical climate (and tropical people). Mineral water was first bottled in glass bottles and became popular in Europe in the latter half of the 19th century. By the early 20th century mineral water had not yet caught on in the America – mostly due to the advent of chlorinated water which provided clean and safe drinking water to the population. This changed however with the creation of the plastic bottle.

The creation of the first plastic was spurred on by rising demand for ivory. European colonial projects had created both a rising supply and demand for ivory where Asian and African elephants in European colonies were forced to give up their tusks for billiard balls – a favorite game of colonial administrators and the European upper classes alike. The trend caught on in America and soon demand far surpassed supply. It was at this point the first plastic polymer was created. But it was World War II and the U.S military’s need for plastics that saw a boom in the burgeoning industry in applications that went well beyond upper class luxury goods. Post World War II, rising incomes and massive production of plastics using cheap oil, resulted in incredible diversification and demand for plastics. In 1973 US company DuPont patented the Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle and since that time global production has increased exponentially. There was never really any thought given to recycling plastics by those who created them; plastic bottles have been recklessly promoted by petro chemical companies intoxicated on the profits of post-war North American mass consumerism. Now plastics production has spread across the world and again countries like Cambodia are faced with ever increasing imports of plastics, with very limited capacity to properly discard of them.

But back to the waste pickers. How did they end up where they are? Each story is unique; a young woman living in Siem Reap who lost her job during COVID-19, a middle aged man who was forced to sell his rice fields in a rural area a decade ago, a single mother who is the survivor of domestic abuse and has to raise three children on her own. They are mostly women (73% of our interviewees), nearly all of them are landless, the vast majority have minimal education (only 2.3% of 94 interviewees has finished high school) and they lack assets and capital. In fact, this was given as the most important reason for doing waste picking in the first place – that due to a lack of capital and income waste picking was the only available livelihood activity that one can get daily income (people are usually paid monthly in Cambodia). But this is not merely a collection of individual stories of deprivation. It is a tendency played out by millions across the world – the “informal workers”, the lumpenproletariat, the survivalists; the people that traditional economic theory thinks should not exist in a global modern economy, but whose numbers proliferate.

85% of Cambodia’s workforce is within the “informal sector”. Even with an average GDP growth rate of 7.7% the number of people entering the work force is far beyond the number of jobs created each year. In 2019 the workforce was 11.5 million (an 80% increase since 2001) yet only 7.8 million were engaged in formal or informal work.

The reasons why this “surplus labor” congregates in Siem Reap are complex and multifaceted; simultaneously part of broader global trends that emerge wherever there is a transition to a capitalist mode of production. At the same time, there are factors particular to the historical and geographic specificities of Siem Reap. Several waste pickers come from farming families that have been ejected from the agrarian economy due to distress land sales – mirroring the exodus of English farmers from common lands to urban areas starting in the 17th century. We found that over 90% of waste pickers in Siem reap were squatting on public lands or without hard land title. 72% of people we interviewed had come from a rural area. Yet, life trajectories also reflect particular historical dynamics – migrations after the Khmer Rouge period and diversified household livelihood strategies that responded to new opportunities in rapidly growing Siem Reap with its booming tourism industry.

Something incredible happens when this desperate and injured workforce meets with the over-accumulated waste of mass-consumerism; forged under conditions of exploitation, emerges a labor force which finally addresses the question that DuPont and Alcoa never bothered to ask? Namely who is actually going to go out there and collect all this waste and bring it back to factories?
 
Photo taken by Dr. Tim Frewer

The ghostly labor force that quietly combs the streets for cans, bottles and cardboard in the early morning or cool of the night is remarkable. They recover tens of thousands of tons of goods every month – just in Siem Reap, that would otherwise end up in rivers or landfill. They are doing more to recycle plastics than any company, government ministry or NGO. They are doing more than all of these actors combined.

While donors and NGOs, state officials, concerned upper class folks and businesses write reports, conduct campaigns and run workshops, the waste pickers go out night and day across the country sifting, collecting, transporting and refining. Yet the donors, the NGOs, the ministries and the businesses pretend the waste pickers don’t exist. The Coca Cola bottling plant in Phnom Penh announces it will shift to 100% recycling. The Siem Reap city administration announces its commitment to reducing plastic waste and becoming a “clean and green city”. NGOs and donors pledge resources towards plastic reduction and recycling. But the unanswered question to all these activities is what labor force is going to achieve all of this and how will they be paid?

What little donor money has gone into the recycling industry has so far been focused on commercial recycling factories. This is necessary and a good first step. Much more could be done to support domestic recycling capacity. But the most urgent issue is the issue of labor in the recycling chain. The entire industry is fundamentally built on the exploitation of a very desperate labor pool. Profit can be extracted at various stages because of this severely underpaid labor. Depot owners do not care about the environment or welfare – for them cans, bottles, cardboard and scrap metal are no different to the “natural resources” that any other capitalist producer exploits- “the free gifts of nature.” Waste is simply a product of the urban ecologies we are a part of; produced from the metabolic relations that allow cities to reproduce themselves with all their excesses and inequalities from one day to the next. We can’t trust the recycling industry as it is now to better the conditions of its labor force.
 

Photo taken by Dr. Tim Frewer

The solutions to this are both sitting in plain sight and simultaneously require bold thinking, planning and actions. The labor force is already there – it just needs a livable income. The Cambodian state cannot ignore the welfare needs of its most desperate groups – the crisis is growing from one year to the next. So too, the ever increasing amounts of plastic waste cannot be abandoned to flow into the great Tonle Sap lake – one of the most productive fisheries of the world. Perhaps recycling cooperatives run by workers? Perhaps supported through state subsidies, taxes and tariffs on plastics and aluminum can imports and local producers? Maybe investments in domestic recycling capacity that directly benefits people working in the recycling industry? (multilateral and bilateral donors are certainly willing to throw money at the Cambodian government for all sorts of environmental projects).

I recall the words of 30-year-old male who goes out every day for up to ten hours scavenging for cans and bottles. He laughs when I ask him about the difficulties he faces in picking; I didn’t create the bottles or cans – I didn’t even drink the liquids that were within them. I just collect them and spend every day cleaning up the environment. Yet the people who do create the cans, and the ones who did drink their contents, act as if my work does not exist and give no value to what I do…

This research was conducted by SFS students Zoe Friese, Campbell Nicholson and Karin Schroeder across 2022 and 2023. Samraksa Seang, Program Assistant, helped throughout all stages.

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Curious about SFS Cambodia? Click here to read more.

Choose the places you stay and travel to carefully, keeping in mind ways to direct money towards local people…

During our semester at SFS Cambodia, my classmates and I have learned about the impact of tourism on the country’s economy, livelihoods, and environment. With over six million international tourists visiting Cambodia in 2019, one can easily imagine how tourists shape the daily lives and opportunities of local people, particularly in our host city, Siem Reap. As the tourism center of Cambodia, Siem Reap boasts convenient access to the Angkor temples—an iconic symbol of Cambodian nationality and a primary attraction of foreign visitors—just a 15-minute tuktuk ride away. In this city, we can see the role of tourist dollars, and the sudden changes brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, up close.

Yet, we must also analyze how tourism, in addition to an important source of income, can be problematic in its both ecological and cultural impacts. Firstly, masses of tourists have brought sudden, intense pressure on local resources and waste management systems, sometimes causing acute ecological damage and increasing demand for logging and land clearing (Gaughen et. al., 2008). Heavily trafficked sites like Phnom Kulen, according to local interviews, primarily blame tourists for the unmanageable buildup of plastic waste. From a cultural lens, tourist guidebooks will simplify Cambodia’s complex society and history into narrow, marketable labels like “authentic,” “affordable,” and “tragic,” appealing to Western fantasies of exotic discovery rooted in colonialism (Tegelberg, 2010). Further, an emphasis on the glory of the ancient Angkor temples, with minimal regard for current Khmer cultural practices, suggests that modern Cambodians have somehow lost their previously high culture—a harmful narrative sparked by the French protectorate (Tegelberg, 2010). Even the economic benefit of tourism, which made up 10 percent of GDP growth in 2019, is shared too little with ordinary Cambodians (Komar, 2021). For every tourism dollar spent, locals only receive 20 cents of revenue, most funds are hoarded by airlines, large-scale resorts and hotels, and tour companies (Tegelberg, 2010).

The destructive nature of tourism follows neocolonial trends seen in many other industries, where non-Western countries remain in an economically and politically subservient position to the West, having little choice but to participate in disadvantageous trade relationships and sacrifice natural resources for little material benefit. These relationships mimic the role of colonies in Western empires, producing cheap raw materials with low-paid or slave labor to enrich manufacturing centers of the West. Is tourism yet another commodity that wealthy colonial powers extract from places like Cambodia, underpaying local people for a product’s value and perpetuating their low position in the global pecking order?

Many have tried to address this inherently problematic reality with strategies like ecotourism, emphasizing socially responsible, sustainable strategies for engaging tourists with nature and conservation. Community-based ecotourism (CBET) sites are also growing in numbers, with over 56 projects throughout Cambodia today (Komar, 2021). CBET aims to directly involve local stakeholders in projects, rather than merely NGOs and expatriates, and empower these stakeholders with decision-making and leadership roles. However, after visiting numerous ecotourism and CBET sites in Northern and Eastern Cambodia, we have found very few to be both economically viable and socially just. The limited flow of visitors post-pandemic has caused several sites to make virtually no income in the last two years. Other projects have land conflicts with local communities, who often feel robbed of the occupied land or unsatisfied with the benefits of ecotourism schemes. Even the concept of CBET is inherently flawed, as it presumes that locals must rely on NGO presence and expertise to be “empowered” into leadership, rather than being capable of organizing on their own. In short, ecotourism and CBET are far from perfect solutions to the problem.

(Rice fields and surrounding landscape at Koh Pdao village, a community-based ecotourism site in Kratié Province. Photo Credit: Zoe Friese).

So, what is the solution then? If we knew, I wouldn’t be writing this blog post, and Cambodian tourism would be a much more just, equitable industry. There is no easy way to rid tourism of its colonial entanglements. This reality complicates a tourist’s ability to travel responsibly—is the most responsible thing to simply stay at home? Surely, this cannot be the case.

I believe that as individuals, we can take steps to ensure that we avoid the trap of colonial fantasies and resource exploitation while abroad. First, honestly assess your reasons for traveling abroad. Are you ready to meaningfully engage in a cultural exchange with local people, learning about nuanced histories and difficult political problems? Think about your previously held assumptions of Cambodia and what may have influenced those assumptions — what attracts you there, and why? In addition, choose the places you stay and travel to carefully, keeping in mind ways to direct money towards local people instead of multinational corporations. Finally, monitor your environmental footprint, and reduce waste where you can. When done right, tourism can expand our worldviews, facilitate cross-cultural understandings, and inspire meaningful change. But it requires moving beyond your typical guidebooks and tourist attractions towards critical thinking, openminded discourse, and awareness of your role in communities.

References

Gaughan, A. E., Binford, M.W., & Southworth, J. (2008). Tourism, forest conversion, and land transformations in the Angkor basin, Cambodia. Applied Geography, 29(2), 212- 223.

Komar, K., Pichdara, L., & Sodavy, N. (2021, September). Natural Resource Governance: Challenges and Potentials of Community-Based Ecotourism in Livelihood Improvement: A Case Study of Preah Nimith CBET, Cambodia. Cambodia Development Resource Institute.

Tegelberg, M. (2010). Hidden sights: Tourism, representation and Lonely Planet Cambodia. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 13, 491-509.

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Want to read more about our SFS Cambodia Center? Click here to learn why we’re based there, our environmental research focus, how we connect and support the local community.

I love being outside, hands-on learning, and cohort-type programs (like camps and trail crews), so field work has always been very appealing to me. I also want to do biological research and knew directed research would give me valuable experience applicable to my future career. I saw flyers at my school and it seemed like a good fit and more interesting than other programs. I had only been planning on doing the summer program in Bhutan, but it was cancelled due to Covid along with the semester program, so I ended up applying for the full semester here in TCI!
 

What are your first impressions of the country?

Turks and Caicos is beautiful! Its atmosphere is simpler and more laid-back than that of the US. The people are so genuine and friendly. I’m inspired by how resilient and proud they are, especially after having struggled with hurricanes and the pandemic.
 

What are your first impressions of the Center?

It’s very homey because it’s covered in art and has a lived-in feel. I feel very minimalistic not taking freshwater showers and having no cell service–it’s nice! It’s easy to get everywhere and we have everything we need. The layout facilitates socializing because the common spaces are so nice and central, but you can also get privacy. I love the ocean view most of all.
 

Our Fall 2021 CMRS cohort at the Community Walk-a-Thon for Caribbean Wellness Week. Photo by Katrina Orthmann.
 

What do you think the biggest challenge will be for you this semester both academically and culturally?

Academically, I think the biggest challenge will be getting used to a new school. For example, they use different statistical methods than what I’m used to and have different assumptions about what we know and don’t know than my home school. Culturally, the litter and stray dogs are just hard to see.
 

What are you looking forward to the most about the semester?

I’m most looking forward to bonding with the cohort and having special, fun moments with them. Getting to know new friends is what I’ll cherish most, I think.
 

Give three adjectives that best describe how you are feeling right now.

Happy, relaxed, thoughtful.
 
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Curious to learn a bit more about the SFS Turks and Caicos Islands 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.

When we arrived at camp, stumbling out of the car after the 4-hour drive from the Nairobi airport, I was in no way prepared for the line of elbows reaching out to bump mine. It was, of course, every staff member that keeps the place running.

 
Hallo!

I start with hallo! because it is the accented version of hello in Kenya. Our professors say it often. Whenever people are losing focus or something is really obvious in class, they will suddenly stop, mid-sentence, if necessary, and say: Hallo! It, without fail, turns every head in the room. Barely pronouncing the h, more breathing it out than anything, it produces this chirp of an ‘ah-low.’ It’s never said in a frustrated way, the sound instead being subtly startling, in the kindest way. I think it is representative of my first days here in Kenya.

When we arrived at camp, stumbling out of the car after the 4-hour drive from the Nairobi airport, I was in no way prepared for the line of elbows reaching out to bump mine. It was, of course, every staff member that keeps the place running.

The director, a man who never stops talking, laughing, or gesticulating, admonished himself the next day, saying we deserved a real welcome. The staff had gone into town, bought a goat, and planned a goat roast for that evening.

This is how I ended up attending a goat slaughter as a full-on vegetarian (very voluntarily, of course). We went and watched the goat be killed and then helped to skin it under the tutelage of two Maasai (the main tribe in our area) staff members. For them, the skinning of a goat is a skill passed on through generations. They cut across the tissue without hesitation and smiled as they placed the knives into our much, much shakier hands.

We proceeded to get an anatomy lesson from the camp director (when in Rome). I quickly learned that our program, without a doubt, was full of nerds. We watched as they extracted every viable piece of meat from the goat, stretched it across sticks, and stuck it in the ground around the fire. Infectious, excited energy built throughout process.

 

The SFS Kenya Center. Photo by Katherine Foree.

Nevertheless, I wouldn’t be participating in the culmination of that anticipation. I was secretly glad because meat, especially this kind of hardcore meat (for lack of a better word), is something I have not eaten in over two years. However, the director looked at me (and the other vegetarian, who I silently thanked for her existence) with utter consternation on his face. He said the most heartbreaking thing: ‘How can I welcome you if we cannot share in eating this meat?’ I sat there and reckoned with one of my biggest life choices for a moment. Then he asked, somehow looking even more concerned, “What do you eat instead of meat?!” He couldn’t imagine it. This man’s love of meat knew no bounds. For him, it was home. I saw us from his seat by the fire, an utterly confounding duo. In response to him, I said the first thing that came to mind: “Lentils?” We had been eating them in abundance at meals. I started to mention beans as well, but his face was already contorting with laughter.

‘LENTILS?!?’ Everybody was laughing.

 

The goat roast. Photo by Katherine Foree.
 

But, after that brief discourse, he seemed to have made peace, at least momentarily, with the fact that we weren’t eating. The lentils had settled it somehow. Then, later on in the evening, as sodas were passed around, people asked him which brand he recommended. He smiled, placing his hands atop what he likes to call his singular love handle. Then he announced simply, “Whatever makes your cup of joy overflow!” So I sipped my bitter ginger ale, sat back, and listened as everyone argued over the true texture of goat liver with a stupid grin on my face.
 

SFS Kenya Center Director Moses Okello and professor John Kiringe. Photo by Katherine Foree.
 

 

Fellow student Joy Oakes. Photo by Katherine Foree.

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Curious to learn a bit more about the SFS Kenya 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.

Enter this ray of light – the annual SFS Photo Contest. This year’s photo contest means something a little different. It’s a moment to reflect on the impact that SFS programs have had, to remind us that our larger global community is still out there, and to fill our day with a little magic that comes from a moment in time captured by our ever-inspiring students.

Today we’re announcing the winners of our 2020 photo contest, which includes submissions from our Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 semesters. This year’s contest saw strong submissions in every category, and it was hard to select our winners. One grand prize winner, four category winners, and eight category runners-up are shared below along with a short story about their photo. Help us in congratulating these students on their accomplishment!

 
Congratulations to our Grand Prize Winner, Emmett Orgass (SFS Chile | Hamilton College)!

Emmett took this photo while watching the sunset over the fjord with a couple of friends right in the town of Puerto Natales, where the SFS Chile Center is located. As he recounts, “It was one of our first sunsets in the city – we were exploring the area when we came across this beautiful field of flowers on a cliff overlooking the water.”

Category Winners & Runners Up

The following students are winners and runners-up in each of the contest’s four categories – Community, Flora and Fauna, In the Field, and Landscape.

 
COMMUNITY CATEGORY
Winner: Ben Grundy (SFS Tanzania | Santa Clara University)

During the SFS Tanzania semester program, students will spend a day with the Hadza people to learn more about their community and way of life. Ben shares a bit about his day, “This day allowed us to engage in activities such as learning how to make fire, using bows and arrows, interviewing Hadza about their interactions with wildlife (hunting and tracking), and learning about the history of the Hadza people in general. We also learned a traditional Hadza dance! I remember feeling lucky that I had the opportunity to interview one of the Hadza men (with the help of our Swahili instructor Frank) and amazed by how the Hadza people were able to maintain their traditional hunting traditions. Through this experience, I gained an understanding of a culture that I would have never been exposed to and felt a genuine connection with the man I interviewed. The archery experience was both enjoyable and hilarious. I didn’t expect it to be as difficult as it was, but you really need some muscle to pull that bowstring back. As all of us students struggled to hit the target, the Hadza men would step up, draw the bow and arrow, and hit the target what seemed like every single time. The Hadzabe cultural experience introduced me to a way of life that was so different than my own. However, the experience was valuable not because I was able to compare my lifestyle to the lifestyle of the Hadza tribe but because I was able to immerse myself in their culture and experience its beauty.”

 
Second Place: Matteo Moretti (SFS Bhutan | Middlebury College)

During the Bhutan program, students do a homestay during the week-long trip to Punakha and Phobjikha Valley. Matteo took this photo during his homestay and the woman photographed is his homestay host mom Lhakpa. Matteo shares the moment when he took this picture, “I awoke to our host mother, Lhakpa, splitting firewood every morning at 5:00AM. While still groggy, I was curious about what her morning routine looked like. I crossed my legs and sat next her as she prepared the woodfire stove and pulled out a plate lined with chilis, coriander and scallions. Although she didn’t know English and my Dzongkha was sparse at best, she showed me how she makes “ezay,” a Bhutanese chili sauce. In this picture, she was cleaning one of the chilis before placing it on the top of the wood stove to roast. We shared many laughs, and I was grateful to have witnessed such an artful process and especially tasty product.”

 
Third Place: Taylor Furrh (SFS Peru | University of Colorado, Boulder)

During the SFS Peru semester program, students take a weeklong trip to the Cusco region to experience different ecosystems from the lowland Amazon rainforest. Taylor’s photo was taken during a tour of Parque de la Papa which is near Cusco. As she shares, “We visited multiple parts of the park and learned about the six Indigenous Quechua communities that joined together to protect their land and the 1,367 different kinds of native potato species that their ancestors grew and that they still rely on. The last stop of the tour was to learn about handicrafts and how the local women naturally dye the wool and weave the beautiful designs captured in my picture. I was so overwhelmed by the beauty of the area and fascinated by the work the communities have done to protect their culture.”

 
FLORA AND FAUNA CATEGORY
Winner: Cameron Markovsky (SFS Chile | Bowdoin College)

During a week-long trip to Northern Patagonia, students on the SFS Chile program study geological and environmental impacts of volcanoes, explore Valdivian forests, and visit the magical island of Chiloé where Cameron captured this amazing photo. He shares his story, “This photo of a pelican was taken during a boat ride off the coast of the island Chiloé during one of our field trips. We saw a plethora of different animals during this ride including penguins, dolphins, sea lions, and many more. I thought that the drama of the bird taking off in the wake of the crashing waves in combination with the incredible color of the water was truly breathtaking.”

 
Second Place: Luke Stover (SFS Chile | North Carolina State University)

It’s not just all charismatic megafauna and huge landscapes, in his photo, Luke found the beauty in something a bit smaller. Something many of us might have walked right by without noticing. He shares the moment when he took the photo, “We had just taken a plane to the Los Lagos region in Northern Chile and drove to Chiloé Island. It had been raining all day and all night and the next morning we went out into the field to measure the growth of different tree leaves native to that part of Chile. My friend Barb and I were walking through the dense forest when the rain had started to clear up a little. At that moment I saw the water droplets on this leaf sitting so perfect. It made me feel content and pure in response to the water being so calm and relaxed sitting on all the leaves surrounding us. Just one of those times where you look around to admire the beauty of nature (even the simplest of things). These are the moments where you really love being in the field and the science that goes on behind all the research that is currently being done all across the world.”

 
Third Place: Michael Trouman (SFS Australia | DePauw University)

Michael took this photo during a multi-day excursion to Orpheus Island in the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of North Queensland in Australia. This curious caterpillar is from the Eudocima genus (fruit piercing moths). When asked about the day that he took the photo, Michael shared, “I went on a walk with one of my best friends on the program. We went out along the coast looking for wildlife and came upon a multitude of butterfly species. Since we both only had our phones, we tried to take photos of the butterflies, but they would not stay still. All we got of the scene were blurry photos. We stayed there for about 20 minutes, being bit by mosquitoes the entire time, and we failed to get a single decent photo. After the mosquitoes took too much of a toll, we gave up and walked back toward the field station. Near the field station we happened upon this magnificent caterpillar where I was finally able to capture a fragment of its beauty.”

 
IN THE FIELD CATEGORY
Winner: Jenna Shea (SFS Panama | University of Massachusetts, Amherst)

Students on the SFS Panama program get the benefit of studying both terrestrial and marine environments. Jenna captured a moment in the field when they were doing a forest walk with a guest lecturer through Isla Solarte, an island adjacent to Isla Colon (where the SFS Panama Center is located). She recalls the moment, “We had come to an overlook at the top of a hill. There was a fallen tree where you could sit and take in a view of the blue waters and the shores of neighboring islands, and the hillside itself was dotted with stilted walking trees. We stayed here for a bit, and the closer we looked at the forest around us, the more beauty there was to see. There was a Planthopper nymph with an iridescent tail, a silvery spider with its legs splayed over its elaborate web-decoration, blaze orange Poison dart frogs hiding in the leaf litter, and this female Golden orb weaver tending to her prey, with a tiny potential mate perched just above her. I remember that day being filled with a lot of “guys come look at this!” as we discovered and appreciated the intricacies of the ecosystem we found ourselves in.”

 
Second Place: Cayley DeLancey (SFS Chile | Mount Holyoke College)

Students on certain programs have the opportunity to schedule weekends away. On an impromptu backpacking trip with about half of her student group, Cayley found a magical campsite on a hillside at Patagonia Bagual just outside the border of Torres del Paine national park. She shares her memory of that day, “In this picture is my friend Dayla. This was just after watching the sun rise over the towers. It was finally warming up and I was packing my bag (hence the mess on the ground) and my buddy Dayla came over to see how I was doing, and I snapped this picture! Such a joyful, cold, but serene morning.”

 
Third Place: Matteo Moretti (SFS Bhutan | Middlebury College)

Taken in Drukgyel, Paro Valley near the SFS Bhutan Center just days before the group had to leave Bhutan due to the beginning of the global pandemic. The entire group headed out on this camping trip to capture a couple more days of beauty before saying goodbye. Matteo recounts the moment, “The area, like the rest of Bhutan, was stunning — from frosted mountain peaks, to a glacial blue river and the beginnings of green paddies scattering the landscape. Our final night around the fire was a time for reflection and to fully enjoy each other’s company one last time. People sung songs, roasted marshmallows and told silly stories. While being a part of that moment brought me incredible joy, taking a step back, setting up my camera and capturing the blurred faces, peaking stars and bright light from the nearby monastery seemed to perfectly encompass my gratitude for the time with my classmates and the wonders of Bhutan.”

 
LANDSCAPE CATEGORY
Winner: Cameron Markovsky (SFS Chile | Bowdoin College)

During his mid-semester break, Cameron and several of his classmates headed to Argentina. Here’s what he recalls from the day, “This photo is a view of the Southern Patagonia Icefield taken from the top of Paso del Viento when a group of friends and I did the Huemul Trek. The trek is in El Chaltén, Argentina but the photo was taken looking onto the ill-defined border between the two countries. We had just reached the top of a grueling climb and turned the corner to be greeted with the most amazing landscape I have ever seen. This moment still comes to mind as one of the most defining and impactful moments throughout my time with SFS.”

 
Second Place: Taylor Furrh (SFS Peru | University of Colorado, Boulder)

During her mid-semester break, Taylor joined a few of her classmates to explore the Cusco region. She recounts the day she snapped this photo, “The bird photo was taken on top of Rainbow Mountain near Cusco, Peru. The hike started at around 4,000m and the trek took about 3hrs to summit at 5,200m (which is slightly lower than the Mount Everest Base Camp!) The view was so beautiful, and I was so excited that we made it to the top! It was amazing to be at the same height as the birds flying around us.”

 
Second Runner Up: Gabrielle Gundry (SFS Kenya | Iowa State University)

During the SFS Kenya semester program, students spend time exploring Tanzania to compare ecosystems, wildlife management, and the challenges faced by communities. During their trip to Tanzania, the group visited Lake Manyara National Park just outside of Mto Wa Mbu. Flamingoes are attracted to the soda ash lake and Gabrielle recounts the day she took this photo, “I decided to capture this photo simply because it evoked an emotional response of humbling beauty in me that represents my entire experience in Kenya and Tanzania. My study abroad experience reached beyond the boundaries of ordinary through its quintessential vibrancy and intimacy between humans and nature, as is being harbored in all of the students that chose to adventitiously partake in an SFS program. While I appreciate the recognition for capturing this scene, my thanks goes to the Earth and all its treasures, and to SFS for opening my eyes to it. It is my hope that breathtaking sights like these, captured through tales and photos, can bring society to get back to the elemental necessity to protect this planet.”

 
 
Congratulations to all of this year’s winners!

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So far, I’ve been able to do a lot downtown. On one of our first days at the center, the staff brought everyone into town for a quick tour. Before we even started walking around, Professor Carolyn made sure that we stopped at Mono Loco surf shop to get paletas or popsicles. Personally, I would recommend the maracuya flavor. It’s heaven in popsicle form. Also, surprisingly enough you can rent boards and take lessons from the surf shop as well. I took a surf lesson here with a group of four other students and absolutely loved it. I would not consider myself a graceful or balanced person but trying to learn surfing in a famous surf town is a must. After a long day of surfing, nothing tastes better than the sushi from Raw. It’s an awesome little restaurant upstairs with an ocean view and the sushi is off… the…charts. If you’re in the mood for somewhere a little more chill, there are two cafés next door to each other, Amerento and Café del Mar, which can be great places to grab a quick bite or even do homework. These are the few places I’ve eaten downtown so far, however my new goal is to try to eat at more locally owned places.

At night, Bocas comes to life. With live bands, dancing, and an opportunity to get to know locals and tourists alike, we always have a fun time. Toro Loco has a live band that we all enjoy going to watch and is close to popular places like Summer and Selina. Last weekend, we got to experience Carnaval in downtown Bocas. They set up big stages for dancers and musicians, and vendors lined the streets selling food and beautiful handicrafts. All of the students went out to experience this event, and even managed to make it into the drumline marching down the street.

Downtown Bocas is beyond what I expected it to be, and I truly do love it. I am excited to continue exploring it and to keep checking things off my bucket list. I hope to visit some quaint thrift shops, buy jewelry from a local street vendor, and take a boat taxi to nearby islands in the next couple months. Downtown is beyond anything I imagined, and as long as you are safe and smart you will have such a fun time. However, I do have one final and very important tip: do not eat the street meat. Just don’t do it.

 
→ Tropical Island Biodiversity Studies in Panama

Since arriving in Bocas Del Toro, my favorite meal has been in the Salt Creek indigenous restaurant. On one of our field days, myself and a few other SFS students participated in the tourism practices of the Salt Creek Ngöbe community. Our time there consisted of a tour of our choosing and a meal prepared by the community members. Reflecting back on the many meals I have indulged in so far here in Bocas, I can safely say this meal was the most impactful. The traditional meal consisted of rice, callaloo, mackerel, and heart of palm. The SFS program has developed a valuable and necessary relationship with this community, which has created a strong bond of trust between the students and community members. When special guests are invited to the community, they are presented with fish or chicken caught that day and a heart of palm which is cut down in honor of the arriving guests. While most meals I have eaten here have been very delicious, there are no words to describe the feelings of gratitude and humbleness I gained from sharing in a meal with the hardworking and dedicated members of this community.

So, I can effectively say that it is possible to eat your heart out in Panama, and if you have the chance to stop by any particular places, I recommend: Leaf Eaters, Ciao, La Buga, and The Tropical Bird. Be willing to try new things and get excited for a delicious new side of study abroad.

 
→ Tropical Island Biodiversity Studies in Panama

 

All photos courtesy of Matteo Moretti

 
My skin is almost as dry as the terraced plots of land that will soon grow rice and chilies, once the days are longer and the season begins. Exhaustion feels inevitable, a wave of it hitting my body and brain promptly at four in the afternoon once classes have ceased for the day. Our transition into life at the SFS Bhutan center has not been the easiest, with high elevation, spicy food in every meal, and daily schedules of class and socialization. Within the first few days here, we traveled to the capital, Thimphu, and visited beautiful monasteries while having some of our first field lectures. I am not going to lie: it has been an intense couple of weeks. Being overwhelmed is a feeling I have come to know quite intimately. And yet I feel deeply comfortable in this town, even in this country. The mountains that rise above the Paro valley are riddled with dark green trees, trees that cover roughly 60% of the entire country. Snow lines the top of the highest peaks around us, sending a spiral of cool air through the center, forcing us to cover our skin from head to toe with up to three layers of clothing. The mornings are my favorite for they bring the gift of silence and slowness in our densely organized schedules. I gaze out as the sun begins to touch the soft green body of land below it and breathe in the potential of the day, the air as crisp as the frost-bitten apples that grow here.

 
Perspective is everything. Just in the way that we are broadening our horizons and diversifying our perspectives in class, the weekends give space for us to climb through thorny bushes and shimmering rocks to the top of the nearest hill, which is at about 9,000 feet. Here we can look upon the valley where we reside, the buildings smaller than ants but the natural surroundings bigger than life. This summit rewards us with the opportunity to walk silently through the courtyard of an incredible Dzong, or fortress for administrative and religious practices, where puppies and chickens play in the sunshine. On our way down, still traversing high on the ridge, we plop down at a small table overlooking the spectacular view and pool our snacks, the feeling of success after a six-hour hike encircling our group as we picnic. We understand our good fortune to be able to step into our backyard and be in the Himalayan mountains.

 
Though only two weeks have passed and we have only just begun to understand one another, a feeling of mutual excitement and contentment is prevalent in the SFS community. The sun goes down around six every day but soon the hours of daylight will increase along with our level of comfort in the beautiful kingdom of Bhutan, land of the Thunder Dragon.

 
→ Himalayan Environment and Development Studies in Bhutan

 
Bumthang is a name you here often at the Bhutan SFS Center in Paro. It is where the SFS Bhutan program first started and home to our partner institution the Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environmental Research (UWICER), a governmental research and training institute. This fall, it was one of our first major field trips outside our home base in the Paro Valley. Approximately 200 miles/313 km west of Paro, it was a trip we all had been looking forward to after the many stories we had heard about it from staff and intern Patton Smalls who had been an SFS student while the Center was still in Bumthang. But 200 miles is a deceiving number – that is as the crow flies! It would be much longer if the mountains were flattened to equal elevation as you can see from the elevation graph.

 
Given Bhutan’s latitude 27.5142° N, (roughly the same as Orlando, FL or Galveston, TX) and the changes in elevation along the route, from Paro (2000m/6562ft) to Dochula Pass (3,100m/10,170.6ft) to Wangdi (1,300m/4,265ft) to Pelela Pass (3,423m/11,230ft) and finally Bhumtang (2,800m/9,185ft) – it would be a gross understatement to say we saw dramatic changes in ecoregions and biodiversity. We traversed four of Bhutan’s six agroecological zones including sub-alpine, cool temperate, warm temperate, and dry subtropical zones.

 

Dochula Pass

 
At the top of Dochula Pass, we stopped to take in the amazing view of the valleys below as well as the 108 Buddhist chortens in honor of the Bhutanese soldiers who gave their lives defending Bhutan in 2003-2004 against the Assam separatists who were illegally occupying a part of southern Bhutan.

On the way down from the pass we saw monkeys in the trees which, with the help of our resident mountain ecologist, Dr. Purna Chettri, we identified as golden langurs, an endangered species considered sacred by many Himalayan peoples. As we descended to Wangdi the temperature rose and by the time we reached our lunch stop in Bajo, many of us were tempted to take a dip in the Puna Tsang Chhu river running by. Following lunch, we drove up to the Pelela pass at 3,423m/11,230ft which marks the western border of Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park and is the gateway to Bumthang and central Bhutan. On a clear day some of Bhutan’s highest peaks can be seen from Pelela including Mount Jhumolhari (7314m/23996ft), Mount Jichu Drake (6989m/22,930ft) and Mount Kang Bum (6526m/21,410ft).

We then descended to the Chendebji Primary School our campsite for the night.

 

Chendebji Primary School

 
In the morning we were pleasantly surprised when students of the primary school started to arrive dressed in the traditional Bhutanese gho for boys and kira for girls. Morning assembly was held outside just above our campsite and the principle invited us to attend. The children did their morning recitations expertly which included several Bhutanese songs just for us.

Descending again to Trongsa we were greeted by one of the most impressive and the largest dzong (fortress) in Bhutan, the Trongsa Dzong. Overlooking the Mangde Chuu river the Trongsa Dzong has a commanding view of the surrounding valleys with obvious strategic advantages. Dzongs in Bhutan serve both religious and administrative functions. The Trongsa Dzong is home to 200 monks as well as the administrative headquarters of the Trongsa District government and is on the tentative list of Bhutan UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

 

Trongsa Dzong

 
From Trongsa we again climbed the winding road to Yutongla pass (3,400m/11,155ft). Enveloped in clouds with no view, we pushed on in anticipation of the beautiful Bumthang valley that awaited us below. As we emerged from the clouds we were greeted with an expansive series of valleys. Bumthang District consists of four mountain valleys – Ura, Chumey, Tang and Choekhor (Bumthang). The word Bumthang translates as “beautiful field” which very accurately describes this part of central Bhutan. Upon reaching our temporary residence at the Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environmental Research (UWICER) I could feel the students’ excitement at finally reaching this treasured valley. They were ready to head out on the trails and explore.

 
During our four day stay in Bumthang we did a lot of exploring. Lunch at the famous Swiss Guest House brought a welcome surprise when the owner, Fritz Maurer, gave us a talk on development in Bhutan and about his life in the “Land of the Thunder Dragon” for the last 51 years. “When I came to Bhutan in 1969, I was first looking for milk, that was my duty, and then for honey, that was my hobby.” Fritz was influential in Bhutanese agriculture in many ways over the years. Although Bhutan did have giant bees (Apis dorsata) a species common in parts of Asia, they are difficult to domesticate, preferring rock ledges for their hives, hence their name “rock bee”. Fritz decided to import another local bee which had become scarce in Bhutan, the honeybee known as Apis cerana. Over time other farmers in Bumthang became interested in beekeeping because, unlike other agricultural products, it requires very little land and a relatively small investment. Before heading to visit one of the beekeepers, we made a quick side trip to Fritz’s cheese factory to sample his different varieties which we had gotten a taste of during lunch.

 

Beekeeper at the Bumthang Beekeepers’ Cooperative

 
The beehives were not far from the Swiss Guest House and upon arrival we were given a field talk about beekeeping by a member of the Bumthang Beekeepers’ Cooperative. We learned that another advantage of beekeeping is that you can harvest the honey three times a year and that the demand is so great they have trouble keeping up with it. In addition, the by-products such as royal jelly, pollen, wax, and propolis are also in demand. We followed him inside to the processing area where we sampled his honey and all eagerly bought jars.

 

Takin. Photo credit Lora Doughty

 
Back at UWICER we attended a lecture by Dr. Tiger Sangay, the leading expert on Bhutan’s national animal the Bhutan takin (Budorcas taxicolor whitei). Bhutan takin are endemic to Bhutan and are categorized as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, with a population of about 500–700 animals in Bhutan. They are totally protected in Bhutan under Schedule I of the Forest and Nature Conservation Act of 1995. Takin are a very distinct looking animal with a thick and short muscular neck, small horns, and a large snout. They live at altitudes ranging from 1500–5550m, migrating seasonally to find suitable habitat and forage. The Bhutan takin is embedded in Bhutanese mythology. According to the myth, the famous Bhutanese Buddhist saint, Drukpa Kunley (1455–1529), was asked to perform a miracle by some villagers. He agreed on the condition that he be fed a whole cow and a whole goat. After consuming both animals, except for their bones, he took the head of the goat and putting it on the skeleton of the cow, he uttered some magic words. The animal jumped up and ran to the meadows to feed.

 

Hiking to the ruins of Daphram Dzong

 
No field trip is complete without some trekking to explore the mountain forests and rivers. With horses to carry our tents, food, and cooking supplies we headed out crossing the fast-flowing river along an easy trail that took us through forests and meadows, where our Bhutanese birding and wild edibles expert Rinchin, foraged for edible mushrooms. Arriving early at our campsite we had time to explore the ruins of Daphram Dzong, a short walk up the hill above us.

Daphram Dzong in one of Bhutan’s most important archaeological sites and was part of a three-year excavation in which Dr. Kuenga Wangmo (SFS’ lecturer in Political and Socioeconomic Dimensions of Environment) participated. Radiocarbon dating suggests it was built in the second half of the 16th century. It is thought to have been built by the ruler of the valley at that time, Chokhor Deba.

The next day students and staff continued trekking over a pass and down to a community campground at Kizom.

 

Ogyen Choling Palace and Museum

 
Our final visit was to the Ogyen Choling Palace and Museum. Ogyen Choling is steeped in Bhutanese history having been visited in the 14th century by several very celebrated Buddhist masters from the Nyingmapa School of Tibetan Buddhism. The museum is fascinating with well-preserved hand-made textiles, household implements, and even ancient swords, shields, and muskets.

On our way back to Paro we stopped again at the Chendebji Primary School where we had camped on the way from Paro to Wangdi our first night. It was a pleasure to see the school children again and watch them do their morning rituals. We were touched by their enthusiasm for their country and respect for its beauty and natural resources. It is something we had grown to appreciate also everywhere we had gone on our trip to Bumthang. it was a good reminder of how fortunate we were to be studying in the Kingdom of Bhutan.

 
→ Himalayan Environment and Development Studies in Bhutan