{"id":2252,"date":"2016-08-24T15:25:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-24T15:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/developmenttwo.marymount.edu\/blog\/dr-todd-rimkus-reflects-on-ten-years-of-taking-students-to-belize\/"},"modified":"2016-08-24T15:25:00","modified_gmt":"2016-08-24T15:25:00","slug":"dr-todd-rimkus-reflects-on-ten-years-of-taking-students-to-belize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/dr-todd-rimkus-reflects-on-ten-years-of-taking-students-to-belize\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Todd Rimkus Reflects on Ten Years of Taking Students to Belize"},"content":{"rendered":"

After 10 years of traveling to Belize to study endangered hawksbill sea turtles, Dr. Todd Rimkus<\/a> of Marymount University said the work is not only fulfilling for him as a researcher, but more importantly, also makes a difference in the lives of his students and the residents of the small village where they stay.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0This year, Rimkus took 24 students on the three-week trip in July, part of a four-credit marine biology and tropical ecology course which includes observing and tagging turtles with GPS satellite tracking devices at Gales Point Wildlife Sanctuary.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u0093Being the tenth anniversary, this trip meant a lot to me,\u0094 said Rimkus, chair of Marymount\u0092s department of biology and physical sciences. \u0093I did a lot of reflecting and feel like I\u0092ve been given the keys to the city because they love us there.\u0094<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0His first trip was a fact-finding mission with fellow MU science professor Dr. Jacquelyn Black, a now retired mentor, and Victor Betancourt<\/a>, executive director of Marymount\u0092s Center for Global Education. Since then, more than 125 students have traveled with Rimkus to Gales Point.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0During the 2008 trip, Gales Point was hit by two tropical storms at once, Arthur coming from the Atlantic and Alma from the Pacific.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u0093There wasn\u0092t a lot of forceful wind, but it dumped a whole lot of rain on us,\u0094 he said. \u0093The road was gone and we were surrounded by four to five feet of water.\u0094<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Rimkus and the four students with him were evacuated by helicopter.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0The next year, when he arrived with 14 students, Rimkus was presented with a handmade drum by the town\u0092s most prominent musician.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u0093He had lost it in the storm,\u0094 Rimkus said. \u0093The week before I was scheduled to return, the drum washed ashore, so he re-skinned it and presented it to me. He told me it must belong to me.\u0094<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0That year Rimkus and Marymount started Hawksbill Hope, a nonprofit that provides support to the turtle tracking program and pays for supplies and the wages of local people who monitor the nesting beaches. Hawksbill Hope has also supported school lunch programs, along with clothing, shoe and food drives for the people of Gales Point. Additionally, it buys turtle necklaces, bracelets, mugs and cups carved from coconut shells by local artisans, supporting the local economy. These items are used as gifts to those who make donations to Hawksbill Hope.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Gales Point is home to fewer than 500 people, descendants of runaway slaves from the time when Belize was a British Colony. They make their living fishing, farming, hunting and making drums.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u0093They look forward to seeing us each year,\u0094 Rimkus said. \u0093We\u0092re a huge group for a place that typically gets seven or eight visitors a month. The whole community comes together and celebrates with traditional African drumming and dancing.\u0094<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0This year the Marymount group surprised the villagers with \u0093turtle tracker\u0094 T-shirts in thanks for their hospitality. The Marymount group got a surprise of their own, too, tagging a turtle on the very first night of the trip.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u0093Usually everyone is very exhausted after the day of travel but nine kids went out to the beach, even though I tried to talk them out of it,\u0094 Rimkus said. This was one time he was glad the undergraduates didn\u0092t listen to him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u0093Several of us were on the beach, and we heard a call on the radio, \u0091We got one!\u0092\u0094 said Marymount Senior Christine Lukban. \u0093We were completely ecstatic to have a turtle within 24 hours of being in Belize.\u0094<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u0093That was the first time that ever happened, and it was just an amazing experience that set the tone for the whole trip,\u0094 Rimkus said. \u0093On some trips, we don\u0092t get to tag a turtle until the last day.\u0094<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0The group named the young female hawksbill Meeko, and after evaluating her health and gathering data, she was fitted with a small transmitter that uplinks the turtle\u0092s location data each time she surfaces to breath. Meeko was then released.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0This year the group used a new tag, with batteries that should last two years. The $2,000 cost is paid for by Rimkus\u0092 Marymount research budget and supplemented by Hawksbill Hope.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0During the year, several Marymount students will help Rimkus collect and analyze data from the tracking devices in order to predict waters and beaches visited most often by the critically endangered turtles for feeding and resting. Among the groups that use the information is the Belize fisheries department, which then prevents fishing and shrimping in those key areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0In all, MU students have tagged 24 turtles over the years. Four tags are currently active.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0In addition to the work with turtles in Belize, students explore coral reefs while snorkeling, hike Mayan ruins, observe a manatee refuge and more. But as Rimkus points out, students learn more than science.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u0093It\u0092s one of the most beautiful places on earth,\u0094 Rimkus said. \u0093You walk down a dirt road into town. The villagers have the simplest lifestyle you\u0092ll ever see and yet they\u0092re the happiest people you\u0092ll ever meet. One thing I hear over and over from students is the recognition that their own lives could be a little simpler and that they can do more for people who have less. If I can get students to think that, not only am I doing my job teaching that course, I\u0092m contributing something to humanity.\u0094<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Photo 1<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Todd Rimkus, chair of Marymount University\u0092s department of biology and physical sciences, has been traveling to Belize for the past 10 years to study endangered hawksbill sea turtles. Rimkus and a young Belizean are pictured with a turtle that\u0092s about to be tagged with a GPS satellite tracker.<\/span><\/p>\n

Photo 2<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the years, Dr. Todd Rimkus has taken 125 Marymount University students to Belize as part of a course on marine biology and tropical ecology.<\/span><\/p>\n

Photo 3<\/span><\/p>\n

Marymount students explore coral reefs while at Gales Point, Belize.<\/span><\/p>\n

Photo 4<\/span><\/p>\n

Jacob Thomas and Christine Lukban are pictured at Xunantunich (Stone Lady) Mayan Ruins on top of El Castillo in Belize.<\/span><\/p>\n

Photo 5<\/span><\/p>\n

This year the group from Marymount University took more than 200 \u0093turtle tracker\u0094 T-shirts to give away when they visited Belize.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After 10 years of traveling to Belize to study endangered hawksbill sea turtles, Dr. Todd Rimkus of Marymount University said the work is not only fulfilling for him as a researcher, but more importantly, also makes a difference in the lives of his students and the residents of the small village where they stay. \u00a0\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n

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