Global Service Learning

This spring, over 30 students departed from St. Mary’s to the countries of Costa Rica and Ecuador on International Field Studies. While both trips focused on service activities, the primary purpose of the Galapagos Field Study was to improve and preserve the islands through service-based work.

The Field Study to the Galapagos Islands encourages students to direct their energy into a variety of activities such as environmental conservation, community service and social programs. Students stay at an organic farm and are completely immersed in the environment around them by staying and working 24 hours a day. Falcons worked in an organic greenhouse, cared for cattle and chickens, collected seeds, planted trees, tended to giant tortoises and collaborated with the Science Department of the University of Ecuador on multiple projects. This field study expands education and fosters an intercultural exchange of ideas in addition to the positive, unique and life changing experiences that our students get involved in on these beautiful islands.

Students’ world-sized hearts were in action during their service work that included reforestation and the eradication of invasive species. Students helped eradicate wild berries to help create a suitable living environment for the reintroduction of the Galapagos Giant Tortoise. Students helped maintain the farm’s organic garden, milked the cows, cooked traditional dishes of the Galapagos and helped with composting and collecting products from the farm. Our students’ service expanded to the reintroduction of an endemic flowering plant only found in the Galapagos Islands, lecocarpus darwinii. Students prepared 200 bags with soil and planted the seedlings of this plant as part of the reforestation project on the highlands of San Cristobal. Students collected and planted seeds of Scalesia spp. an endemic species to the highlands of San Cristobal. Some of the zones where this plant is located are threatened by the introduction and spread of invasive species. The Galapagos National Park works in conjunction with the University of San Francisco Quito (USFQ) to restore the habitat of the Scalesia spp. in the Galapagos. Our students took part in this tremendous effort to increase Scalesia’s forests in the Galapagos Islands. We planted 42 Scalesia plants as part of the reforestation project in an area that a forest once existed. Our students worked directly with the University of Quito to help count, tag and collect data of more than 1,200 trees located on the highlands in San Cristobal.

Our group visited Opuntia, a pristine beach with no public access. We obtained a permit from the National Park Service to remove the plastic items present on this beach. The group ultimately collected 66 pounds of plastic.

During many afternoons after working in service projects, we had the opportunity to explore the town at the base of the island, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. We visited the Charles Darwin Research Station in Santa Cruz Island, an international non-profit organization dedicated to scientific research and to promoting and securing the conservation of Galapagos and the Giant Galapagos Tortoise.