The Complete Guide to Ecological Field Research for Students: What to Expect, How to Prepare, and Why It Matters
Everything students, parents, and educators need to know before joining a tropical field research program A student who has spent years reading about ecology in a classroom finds themselves standing in the rain, covered in mud, holding a bird they helped catch in a mist net thirty seconds earlier. At that moment, science stops being […]
Where Students Become Field Scientists: T.R.E.E.S. Belize
Inside the grassroots research station in central Belize where tropical ecology is the work Most people who visit Belize head for the coast. The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef draws divers and snorkelers from around the world, for good reason. Yet some of the most ecologically rich and scientifically active work in the country is happening inland […]
Belize’s Biodiversity: Small Country, Extraordinary Natural World
A guide to the ecosystems, species, and conservation story that make Belize one of the most ecologically significant places in the Western Hemisphere Belize biodiversity is astonishing. The Central American country is roughly the size of New Hampshire and is home to a population of fewer than 500,000 people. It sits at the bottom of […]
How to Plan Experiential Education International Trips for High School Students
Table of Contents This guide covers everything educators need to know to plan experiential education international trips for high school students, from defining learning outcomes to preparing students before departure. There are some lessons that only the world can teach. Most educators know this instinctively. The question is how to build a program that delivers […]
Guatemala Reforestation Program: How Wellkind Works From Seed to Forest
A conversation with Antonio Canel Sipac, Executive Director of Wellkind Guatemala In the western highlands of Guatemala, the reforestation program run by Wellkind moves on the rhythm of the rainy season. When the clouds gather and the soil softens, Wellkind’s reforestation teams spring into action. Timing is key since trees planted in dry ground do […]
Reforestation in Guatemala: The Story of Wellkind Guatemala
How one organization is combining indigenous land knowledge, conservation science, and community ownership to lead reforestation in Guatemala’s western highlands The western highlands of Guatemala are among the most visually stunning landscapes in Central America. They are also among the most ecologically stressed. Decades of deforestation driven by agricultural expansion, fuel-wood cutting, and land fragmentation […]
Actions Speak Louder Than Words: What Service Learning at Casa Guatemala Looks Like
Four travelers reflect on an eight-day impact adventure in Guatemala with Somos and Sage International School Casa Guatemala, the nearly 50-year-old NGO educating Indigenous Q’eqchi’ Mayan children on the banks of the Rio Dulce, welcomed a group of students, parents, and educators from Sage International School in Boise, Idaho this past April. Their itinerary included […]
Shoshanna Sumka Joins Somos as Senior Advisor, School Partnerships & Global Learning
We’re excited to welcome Shoshanna Sumka to the Somos Impact Travel team. Shoshanna is joining us for a focused two-month engagement as Senior Advisor, School Partnerships & Global Learning. She’ll be working with us on schoolpartnership development, our educational framework, and helping connect the right institutions with the programs we’ve built on the ground in […]
Rio Dulce, Guatemala: A River Town in the Jungle
Rio Dulce, Guatemala is not the first stop on most itineraries. Most travelers who come to Guatemala head west. They land in Guatemala City, head to Antigua, then continue to Lake Atitlán. The tourist infrastructure pulls them in that direction, and the rewards are real. Most tourists skip the east, which is home to one […]
Education in Guatemala: The Malnutrition Crisis Holding Children Back
Education in Guatemala’s rural indigenous communities begins with a problem most people don’t see. In Guatemala, roughly one in two children under five suffers from chronic malnutrition. Guatemala ranks first in Latin America and sixth in the world for child malnutrition (ReliefWeb), and the burden is not evenly distributed. Among indigenous children, the rate of […]