| The Magazine of the CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES |
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Here at the Academy Academy's Worldwide Horizons Since 1999, students have been coming to the California Academy of Sciences from all over the developing world. They come to use Academy collections, gain expertise in their respective fields, and obtain knowledge that will be of practical use when they return to their homelands. Funded by the Lakeside Foundation, the Foreign Students in the Natural Sciences program trains students how to be scientists, and teaches them techniques that they can use to help develop a scientific infrastructure in their own countries. So far, participants have come from countries such as China, Brazil, Peru, Madagascar, Kenya, and Myanmar. They have studied an impressive variety of animals ranging from deep-slope fishes from the Caribbean coast of Colombia, to carabid beetles of the Gaoligong Mountains in China, to barnacles of Baja, California, to spiders from the Galápagos Islands, to South American hagfish. Among this year's students is Jean-Claude (JC) Rakotonirina, who is pursuing a master's degree in Ecology and Systematic Biology at San Francisco State University. Rakotonirina was born in Fandriana, a small town in western Madagascar surrounded by natural, primitive forest. There, as a boy he developed a love for insects, especially ants and bees. Once in college, he realized that he could turn this love into a fulfilling career by becoming an entomologist. Rakotonirina's connection to the Academy began when he met ant specialist Brian Fisher at the University of Antananarivo Ankatso. Fisher was impressed by his dedication and eye for detail. He invited Rakotonirina to participate in the Academy's Arthropods of Madagascar Project and Ant Initiative, and, later, to San Francisco to learn how to become an ant taxonomist. "One day," says Fisher, "JC will be a professor of entomology in Madagascar." The Madagascar project has already led to the discovery of many still-unnamed species of arthropods and amassed a huge amount of data about their distribution. With so many students looking for opportunities to study in the United States, Academy scientists must identify those they think will benefit the most from the experience. One particularly inspirational story is that of Miguel Fernandez and his Academy sponsor, Healy Hamilton. At 16, Fernandez got a job on the Reina de Enín, a tourist boat that traversed the rivers of the Bolivian Amazon. He lived and worked on the boat for the next five years, developing a deep knowledge of and love for the terrain, flora and fauna, and people of his country. He became especially fascinated with the yungas, nearly impassable jungles in the Andean foothills that harbor incredible ecological diversity. Made up of forested mountains and big rivers, the local people say the yungas are "where the clouds sleep" because of the fog that often rests in the treetops. In 1998, the owners of the ecotourism operation commissioned a group of Bolivian biology students to conduct a biodiversity survey along the route of the tourist boat. Fernandez was assigned to help with the logistics. On this expedition, he encountered Hamilton, who was researching river dolphins. She was impressed initially by "his boundless energy" paddling her canoe among the tributaries after already putting in a full day's worth of work. She discovered he was especially interested in caimans and, realizing the depth of his enthusiasm, encouraged him to study biology. Hamilton helped him apply for the Smithsonian Institution's Research Training Program. Out of over 200 applicants he was one of only twelve accepted, and the only foreigner. Fernandez is currently pursuing his master's degree in conservation biogeography at San Francisco State University. He also works for the Academy's Center for Biodiversity Research and Information program. There he uses collection data from the millions of specimens at the Academy to map out those locations that are biologically rich and in most need of increased conservation. Fernandez is passionate about his work. "Most museums," he says, "don't make this information available to the public." But he sees how Bolivia, a country with very limited resources, can benefit from biodiversity data from museum collections. He's eager to return to Bolivia once his studies are over. In the meantime, he's settled for visiting as often as he can afford. "I don't want to lose connection with my people," he says. "Conservation is about people." The Academy's Director of Research, Dave Kavanaugh, seconds Fernandez's sentiment. "The Academy's international student program is an investment in individuals," he says. "These students come to the Academy from all over the world. They are uniquely qualified to be leaders in conservation because of their dedication to their respective countries as well as to science." As Fernandez explains, "We should be the ones to preserve [the land]. We are the ones living there." Ester Chang works in the California Acacademy of Sciences' Entomology Department. |