This summer I participated in the Duke in Australia Program, a monthlong immersion up and down eastern Australia that consists of one all-encompassing course called Biogeography in an Australian context. After meeting up with my peers in Los Angeles at the airport, we flew together to Sydney where we met our professor, Dr. Alex Glass, and Teaching Assistant, Jen Glass. After acclimating to the new time zone and unfamiliar location of a new continent, we explored Sydney for a little over a week, journeying through botanical gardens, city streets, hiking trails, and museums. We also took public transit outside of Sydney to explore intertidal zones at Bondi Beach and snorkel at Manly Beach! Next, we made our way by bus to Katoomba, a homely mountain town in the Blue Mountains, part of larger Great Dividing Range, where we spent several days hiking while identifying plant and animal species, exploring the natural and human history of the area, and learning about the wonderful geology all around us. Next, we explored the famous Outback in the Northern Territory around the city of Darwin. There, we saw saltwater crocodiles and other fascinating reptiles up close, camped in Kakadu National Park, and learned about glorious gorges, waterfalls, and other geological features. Finally, we explored the beautiful Daintree Rainforest and Great Barrier Reef in the state of Queensland, where we learned about flora and fauna on exciting night hikes, beach walks, and snorkeling expeditions. After stopping in a small town called Yungaburra to see massive, ancient fig trees and the world-famous platypus (wow!), we ended our trip in Cairns before flying back to the United States.
This once-in-a-lifetime experience taught me how to carefully observe the natural world around me and notice small beauties often missed by humans. I’m so grateful to Dr. Glass and Jen, who led the program with their extensive knowledge of biology, geology, and Australia, and to my enthusiastic and caring peers, with whom I developed long-lasting friendships throughout the trip. After arriving home in the United States, I found myself marveling at biological features I had never noticed before, using techniques from the Australia trip to make observations about the environment around me. I have a newfound appreciation for quirky evolutionary traits that make organisms, such as the spiny leaf insect, special, and can’t help but admire the geological factors underlying Australia’s unique plants, including the famous eucalypts genus, adapted for dry and infertile soil conditions. In the future, I plan to continue exploring the natural world as much as possible and will continue to grow my appreciation for the wonders of this planet that I witnessed in Australia.
