LIVE GLOBAL LEARNING EXPERIENCES

“I have learned so much from the Costa Rican ecologist and due to the presentations, he gave I have found myself more interested in marine turtles as well as Costa Rica itself. My overall rating of the program presented by the guest speaker is a 10/10 because it was exciting to learn about a topic from a person who actually experiences the teachings on a day to day basis. Having a guest speaker also gives a twist to the class and allows for students to have some variety with online learning.”

Christine Tuaillon
Professor, Biology Department, Nassau Community College

“Christian coordinated an amazing live Zoom lecture from Costa Rica for our students! Marvin, Costa Rican guide, led the lecture from Monteverde Cloud Forest to discuss local culture, renewable energy, geography and biodiversity. Students were able to participate in the discussion and ask questions. Marvin was very knowledgeable and led an engaging lecture. Marvin also included a special guest speaker who was an expert on the Monteverde Cloud Forest. During the lecture students were able to see an example of a tree that has over 600 species living on it. This virtual experience was a nice option for students to gain international experience when travel is not an option!”

Kim Simpson
Global Initiatives Program Coordinator, Polk State College

“Every semester students in my oceanology course on Long Island get to spend an afternoon completing an applied learning project at Alley Pond salt marshes in Queens, NYC. However, since March 2020, all my courses have been taught “online/remotely”. Teaching remotely is challenging. And bringing experiential learning into the remote classroom is even more challenging. Thanks to SAA I was able to have my students experience what it is like to work on marine turtle conservation in Costa Rica. Claudio Quesada, the science director for the Pacuare reserve in Costa Rica “joined” my NY remote class through zoom from his office in Costa Rica. He gave an excellent presentation on marine sea turtles biology and conservation. Claudio brought his own experience in marine turtle conservation to give my students detailed feedback on the reality of on the ground conservation work. Thank you Claudio for bringing your real life conservation experience to my students.”

Christine Tuaillon
Professor, Biology Department, Nassau Community College