Alejandro Paniagua '16

Hometown: San José, Costa Rica

Majors: Business Administration and Environmental Studies

Extracurricular Involvement:

Sigma Nu Fraternity
SAIL
SEAL
MSA
University Peer Tutor
Tri-Beta
Choir
W&L Student Consulting
International Education Committee
ESOL

Off-Campus Experiences: DIS Denmark Fall 2014

Favorite Campus or Lexington Landmark: Lee Chapel. For me it's the heart of the institution and every time I see it I think of the great traditions and importance of the Honor System.

What professor has inspired you? Different professors have inspired me in many different ways, but the one professor that has inspired me to be the best version of myself is Dr. Lynch. He always encouraged me to work hard and to strive for excellence. Apart form being a passionate and excellent professor he motivates and gives great advice to his students. I truly respect him and greatly value his advice.

Advice for prospective or first-year students? Take advantage of al the opportunities the school gives you. Especially studying abroad. Even if you don't want to leave your friends, studying in a different country for a semester or a year will change how you view things, and most importantly, how you view yourself.

Spending a month doing research in the rainforest of northeastern Queensland over the summer was a demanding and amazing experience that allowed me to grow as a person and as a scientist. I would typically wake up at 6:00 a.m. because breakfast started at 7:30 a.m., and before that I had to walk almost ten minutes on a trail to the bathroom and come back to my cabin before I walked another 15 minutes from my cabin to the center's main building. When I was walking on the trails I had to always wear my boots because of the abundance of terrestrial leeches and the occasional a venomous snake.

When I got to the main building, we had an hour for breakfast. Afterwards we typically had lecture on plant identification, behavioral ecology, socio-economical values of the rainforest or relevant research and data collection techniques. If we did not have a lecture, we would engage in fieldwork that consisted of biometric data, conservation methods or rainforest management techniques until lunch. After lunch we either had another lecture or lab work consisting of cane toad dissection or data analysis until dinner. After dinner we usually had night walks where we often saw tree kangaroos, possums, bandicoots, a variety of birds and of course terrestrial leeches. If we did not have a scheduled night walk, we would collect cane toads specimens for our main research project. This was our typical schedule Monday through Saturday. Sundays were free, and if we did not have a lot of work we would organize hikes or other activities.

At the end of the program, we were required to write a scientific paper based on our research throughout the session. In my case, I worked with lungworm infection on cane toads--a popular research topic, as scientists are trying to evaluate the effectiveness of this parasite on controlling the population of cane toads, a very aggressive and invasive species in many countries with sugar cane plantations. I evaluated how rainfall affected the infection rate of lungworms on cane toads in Northeastern Australia and how this factor might impact the effectiveness of lugworms as a biological pest control.

We were always very busy, and we seldom left the rainforest. Therefore the program directors occasionally organized trips to Yungaburra, the closest town, where we could use the Wi-Fi and be in contact with "civilization." They also organized trips to famous landmarks and various hikes to help us get to know the area better or just leave the center for a couple of hours. I especially remember the daylong hike to the famous Cathedral Fig Tree that is more than 500 years old, and to the Gillies Lookout, which has a beautiful view of the rainforest and the Atherton Tablelands. We woke up at 7 a.m., and by 8 o'clock we were on our way to see the Fig Tree. It was a lovely hike and the colossal tree was magnificent. I can understand why it is a sacred place for the aboriginal community. There we had a quick lunch before hiking to the Gillies Lookout, which has the most amazing view I have ever seen in my life.

I clearly remember this day not only because of the beautiful places we went, but because I finally was able to experience the concepts that I have been studying in my classes at W&L, and the ideas of environmental leaders like Henry David Thoreau, Aldo Leopold and John Muir. Living and studying in the rainforest for a month with limited access to the Internet and civilization changed me. I no longer viewed the rainforest with only scientific curiosity, but also with a feeling of belonging and care. As odd as it may sound, I developed a relationship with the rainforest where I was eager to learn more about it, but to also preserve and care for it, and it was during this hike when I first became aware of this change. This is why I truly cherish this day because it was when I realized I was falling in love with Australia.