Steven Fuchs, 2013, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
One of the great things about my time in Grahamstown, South Africa was that every day was different. Most of my time was spent working on Professor Booth’s respirometry project, but I was also given the opportunity to assist graduate students on their individual projects. My primary project involved studying the rate at which various Eastern Cape stream fish consume oxygen. Some other projects that I contributed to involved studying the eating habits of pompano fish and studying patterns in the movement of sharp-toothed catfish. I rarely worked from a desk and spent most of my time in the lab or doing fieldwork in freshwater ecosystems nearby. Additionally, I had time to travel around the country and was able to spend a few days in Cape Town and some days in national parks like Addo National Elephant Park. Over the course of my trip I was always on my toes and was challenged both academically and socially.