Brant Trabel of Covington was selected to travel to Belize as part of a global master’s degree program studying marine conservation.
This is the first year of the program titled Global Field Program (GFP) as part of Project Dragonfly – a division of Miami (OH) University.
Along with 20 other American educators and a total of 150 from around the world, Trabel will explore diverse terrestrial, coastal and coral reef communities at the Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center,
Gales Point and
Tobacco Caye – locales along the coastline of the Central American country.
Working alongside local scientists who specialize in investigating conservation programs, the group will explore manatee population dynamics within the country’s coastal environment with members of the Wildlife Trust.
GFP students will engage in field conservation work this summer in Africa, Asia or the Americas. In Africa, GFP educators will study cheetahs in Namibia, research the world’s last wild horses in Mongolia, tag leatherback sea turtles in Trinidad, explore tropical forests ecology in Costa Rica and research marine and terrestrial ecosystems in Baja.
The GFP master’s degree is based on the successful Earth Expeditions program from Dragonfly and the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Since 2004 when Earth Expeditions began engaging educators in first-hand educational and scientific research at conservation hot spots around the world, more than 750 educators have been selected from 43 states and several international countries.
