November 20, 2014
By Isabelle Lazarus (University of Vermont)
Three weeks ago, at a casual visit to the internet café, our instructors were approached by the “upper ups” of CONAF (i.e. the bosses of Orlando and Felidor, the guardasparques from los fiordos) about presenting the research we collected from our month spent in Bernardo O’ Higgins National Park. When this announcement was relayed to the group, we all began to buzz with the excitement of getting to present our research to the directors of CONAF. There was just one catch… we’d have to prepare our presentation in just two weeks, on top of our first 5-day visit to the Chacabuco Valley, midterms and other class assignments. Well…maybe two catches, “ladies you might have to shave your legs and armpits.” Let the first stage of anxiety begin!
Time passed and our academics took precedent for the moment. Our first visit to the Chacabuco Valley was a success (refer to the previous blog for details), but by the time we returned to Cochrane, it was time to put our noses to the grindstone and get to work. For two days, we sat diligently entering data, sifting through thousands of pictures, sharing copious amount of maté and putting it all together into a cohesive Power Point in the confines of our little stone house on the hill (Base Camp). The last step was to work on translating everything from English to Spanish. For the last two months, we’ve all been working to be able to hold a casual conversation in Spanish, but presenting scientific research was a whole new challenge.
Our arsenal of books used to prepare for the presentation
On the night before our presentation, we did a practice run-through of the presentation. Blaise, Natalie, Desi and I would be presenting our routes, while Sylvia, Elliott and Kristina and Eric focused on habitat composition, bird diversity and huemul population studies respectively. Elizabeth would act as our translator for the event. We all giggled (somewhat nervously) as we fumbled through our notes and tried to imagine how the presentation would go. Are we conveying our information properly? Would they respect our efforts? Had we accomplished anything by slogging through the fjords for a month? And “como se dice, steep, en español?” These were just some of the questions racing through our heads as we retreated to our tents for the night.
To quote “The General” by Dispatch, a song that we sing often, “it was a grey morning and we all wondered how we would fare.” We put on our best clothes, which was maybe the greatest challenge of this project, as most of us just brought down only field clothing, and headed out the door. We arrived at the CONAF office at 9:45am, in order to start promptly at 10am. In true Patagonian fashion, we were snuck in the back room of the auditorium to share some maté with our dear friend Orlando before we actually began. As we waited for Felidor to arrive, we caught up with Orlando. Though he’s only been a part of our lives for a few months, I think we all feel a deep friendship with this man. After all, he guided us through one of the most beautiful and intense experiences of our young adult lives.
Once Felidor arrived, all of the students got settled into seats at the front of the room. As the noise level settled, I looked out at my group, our instructors, Orlando, Felidor, and the directors of the regional office (aka their bosses and their bosses’ bosses), all of these people who feel a deep connection and need to protect Bernardo O’Higgins National Park, its plants, animals and glaciers.
Elliott presenting his project on bird diversity
I won’t go into detail about the presentation other than that it went very well. The atmosphere in the room was one of welcome and true interest. As we presented our topics, it became clear that our work was proving to be worthwhile. Our audience would pause the presentation to ask more and more questions as we went on. We were becoming part of the dialogue, not just spewing statistics and facts at blank faces. Our presentation became more than a re-cap of a month in the wilderness, following game trails and looking through binoculars; it transformed into a conversation about the future of these projects. New questions were being thrown around and we were there to be part of the discussion.
We bumbled through some Spanish, but in the end I think that all of those nervous questions we had the night before were answered. Some people doubted that our adventure in the fjords would work, but we were able to show them just how important our time there was. The directors of CONAF were impressed by our research and want to continue this blooming relationship with Round River Conservation Studies. That’s the most important part of this whole thing in my mind. CONAF works to protect the wild places of Patagonia and Round River has the ability to put people in the field to study these places. Our project is just the beginning of something bigger. The continuation of this relationship will allow our projects to grow and new ones to sprout.
I think that I can speak for the whole group, in saying that I feel extremely proud to be a part of it all.
Top photo: Kristina and Eric presenting their Huemul study