O is for...

Operation Wallacea

So this is along the lines of my E and N posts.  Operation Wallacea is a program that offers biological and research conservation opportunities across the world.  And it is the next program I want to be involved with.  OpWall is great because they have many location options as well as length of time options.  Some locations cater more to one area or another, and you can chose a location based on what you want to do.  They offer programs in 11 countries: Indonesia, Honduras, Egypt, Cuba, South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, Peru, Guyana, Romania, and Mexico.

I personally have my eyes set on Indonesia for summer 2013, hopefully participating for the full eight weeks.  This means, however, that I need to raise over $5,000 to cover the program costs, travel costs, and extras.  I was making a fair amount of progress on that until today when I walked into the Bursar's Office and gave them a check worth $1,518.00 to pay for my summer class.  Man that was painful.  However, if that means I will definitely be graduating next spring instead of the following fall, I guess I'm okay with it.  

I'm looking into Indonesia for a couple of reasons.  First, they offer the chance to climb into the forest canopy and stay there overnight so you can watch the sunrise.  I mean, how amazing would that be?  As with most of their other programs, OpWall gives the participant the option to do a forest and a water portion.  So this means I will be trained to dive and will be able to participate in underwater research as well as terrestrial research in the forest.  Sounds cool to me!

I am also considering going to Honduras instead, simply because it is closer and would be cheaper to get to.  The only major difference between the two programs, minus the different animal species, is that Honduras doesn't have the option of the canopy trip.  So in all reality I'll probably end up in Honduras, but I'm going to try extra hard for Indonesia.  

So if this program appeals to anyone out there in cyberspace, you can check them out here.  They offer programs for undergrads, senior thesis/dissertations, high schools, and more.  New experiences people!  And real life research experience.  I really hope I can do this.  OpWall here I come!