Hey guys!

Just wanted to give you all an update on what I'll be up to for the next four months. Today I leave to New Zealand with a group of twenty St. Olaf students. We will spend one month in New Zealand, and three in Australia, studying marine biology, terrestrial ecology, environmental policy, and cultural anthropology. This will be my first time outside of North America, and I am extremely excited to embark on this journey. I hope to learn more about the environment and the relationship various cultures have with their surroundings. One of the most exciting things about this trip is that we will get the opportunity to visit Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef, where we will learn about the ecosystem hands-on by snorkeling, whale-watching, and listening to lectures given by specialists in their fields.

If all goes according to plan, I will be flying back to New Zealand from Australia during my spring break to take on a ten-day solo hike on the Dusky Track in Fiordland National Park to photograph the grand landscapes and exotic wildlife there. And hug kiwis :)

I'll be blogging on here frequently, so stay tuned!

PS: this is a shot I took flying out of Alaska last summer - it's not New Zealand. I just thought it seemed fitting ;)

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