Demi Gary
From EcuadorWiki
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About Me
My name is Demi Gary and I just finished my first year here at Alma college. As of right now I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish and minoring in Chemistry. Yeah, it keeps me pretty busy. College was a major adjustment for me this year and I had a rough time at first, but I'm glad I stuck it out for a semester because now I'm having a blast! I'm an only child and my home town is Oscoda, Michigan, the most beautiful place in the world. Aside from my studies here at Alma, I also enjoy playing the flute in the Kiltie Marching Band. Yeah, I rock a kilt. I also enjoy driving around with Paul Converse in his red Lebaron with the top down, rollerblading with Rachel Riegle, Arby's Jamocha shakes, and pretty much any other outdoor activity you can think of; not in that order. I live on the Ausable river so in the summer when I'm not at work you can find me out on Foote pond, cruising around on my jetski around or just soaking up the sun.
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The Best Looking Section Of The Kiltie Marching Band
Why Ecuador?
I chose to come to Alma college because it was small and there are so many opportunities to study abroad, which is one of my main focuses for college. And since I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish when I heard about the Ecuador spring term I couldn't wait to sign up! When I heard I could continue my Spanish lessons at the Academia Latinoamericana de Español[1]and do a bio study in the rainforest, I was pretty much sold! I've also always wanted to visit the Galapagos Islands where Darwin did his studies on evolution since I am most likely continuing on to Grad school to pursue a career in evolutionary biology.
Expectations
- I'm hoping to increase my fluency in the Spanish language and experience a culture much different from my own on this trip.
- Also, I'm excited to travel to the Galapagos Islands [2] and go snorkeling there.
- I'm going to the Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve [3]and I hope to do a Botany study on plants endemic to the cloud forest.
- I'm looking forward to staying with my host family with the sweet roommate Emily Neil, althought I expect she will be doing much of the communicating with them in Spanish due to her superior knowledge of the language.
My Project
For my Ecuador project I plan on doing a Botany study in the Bellavista Cloud Forest. So far I am the only one conducting this study, since I'm the only Botany nerd that I know of (but if it sounds interesting to anyone in my group just let me know!). I would like to observe some of the endemic species of angiosperms to the cloud forest and their pollinators. I have always been intrigued by coevolution and perhaps the best example of this is almost any angiosperm and it's fellow pollinator. I know that many species of orchids in the cloud forest are pollinated by either bats or hummingbirds, but there are many different species of both in the cloud forest and I would like to see exactly who pollinates what and why.
Bats and hummingbirds pollinate different flowering plants for different reasons. Different colors may be more appealing to a hummingbird rather than a bat, as well as may different odors or nectar. Bats and hummingbirds also have different facial and bodily morphologies, so the shape of the flower or location of the pollen should differ between bat pollinated plants and hummingbird pollinated plants. As we in the bio group already know from Dr.McNally's cloud forest bird guide, there are many different species of hummingbirds at the Bellavista reserve so it will also be interesting to see which species is responsible for pollinating which flower.
- For this project I plan to be observing things such as:
- Which species of bat or hummingbird pollinates which angiosperm
- Flower odor and how it attracts the right pollinator
- Flower color and how it attracts the right pollinator
- Flower morphology and how it attracts the right pollinator
- Where the flowers are located and how this corresponds to their pollinator
In order to observe these things I will probably hang out with Dr.McNally for a day or two while he photographs different species of hummingbirds. That way I can observe which species pollinates which angiosperm. As far as the bats go, I may find myself sitting outside until late hours of the night to observe these creatures! At the end of this project I would like to either put together a portfolio containing my findings and pictures to illustrate them, or possibly even make a few actual wikipedia pages showing my findings.
Some Plants in the Bellavista Cloud Forest
