STEPHANIE BARTZICK
ENVIRONMENTAL and WILDERNESS SKILLS EDUCATOR
SUSTAINABILITY ENTHUSIAST
Traveling for school to find
experience, education, and home.
Through these experiences I have discovered more about myself than anywhere else in the world.
Inside a cage in the jaguar exhibit.
Inside a cage in the jaguar exhibit.
Belize
January 2013
After spending a semester learning about the history and ecology of Belize, I had the opportunity to spend two weeks traveling around Belize. We did a various number of activities which included homestays, caving, exploring waterfalls, hiking and camping in the forest, snorkling, SCUBA diving the Blue Hole (where I saw a shark!), and learning the importance of allowing things to grow, change, and to always continue in a forward, positive motion.
Standing over the equator
Standing over the equator
Ecuador
May 2013
Ecuador was the birthplace of my soul searching/discovering adventures. Through warm and loving homestays, multiple community service projects (mingas), hiking Imbabura and understanding WHY we climb mountains, camping in the Amazon Basin, and connecting with the indigenous people who constantly have their well-being threatened by oil development, I grew mentally and in my soul. Understanding that everything is alive and in motion connects you to Pachamama, or Mother Earth, in a deep and beautiful way.
Honduras
June - August 2012
I spent two weeks in the remote rainforest of Cusuco National Park learning jungle survival, neo-tropical forest ecology, and canopy access, and held the position of Research Assistant for multiple research groups gathering data on bats, birds, insects, deforestation disturbances, reptiles, and amphibians, I then spent one month split between two different islands, Utila and Cayos Cochinos. Here I learned Caribbean reef ecology, became a PADI certified Rescue Diver, and collected coral reef data to monitor pollution from the mainland and other sources. Data was collected twice a day at different locations by creating quadrants or transects.