Summer School
September 25, 2025 4:06 PM
Our flight to Panama City left the sun behind. As we flew over the ocean I tried in vain to keep track of where we were by trying to identify small islands, outlined by flickering electrical lights on a wrinkled map provided by the airline.
Our first official welcome to Latin America was provided by Continental Airlines, who served Mexican food halfway through the trip.
It seemed irrelevant to point out to the stewardess that Panama is about as far as you can get from Mexico without slipping into South America.
After deciphering our first bit of Spanish in order to fill out our paperwork before disembarking, we entered the Panama City airport; the smell of air conditioning and mildew flooded into the walkway as we headed towards the front door.
We had left Canada on a misty morning in early May, and arrived in Panama at about ten pm that same day.
Within minutes, climate control became a desperate fantasy left behind in the airport. The next hour was a crash course in Panamanian driving (no seat belts, very few rules, tons of honking) and the heat we would have to contend with for the duration of our trip.
The next day we took a stifling bus from Panama City to Monagrillo, a small neighbourhood outside of Chitre, known around Panama for their keen sense of humour(or so they we were told).
We took to the field within the next week. We would wake up at five am in order to get into the field by six am.
The project focused on household Archaeology; the study of the everyday life of a group of people.
Part of the project for the 2010 field included looking for evidence of production, such as the fabrication of beads or pendants from shell.
Each day was occupied with digging holes in order to find and record artifacts.
As students of Anthropology and Archaeology the trip was beneficial on many levels.
Jillian Robertson, a alumni of the StFX Anthropology program, currently attending UBC explains: “Living so far from home, among a people so different from my own, really helped me understand the complexities and intricacies that make up human culture, and gave me a better outlook on life beyond the North American cultural borders.”
For an Anthropologist, travel confirms all that we strive to understand in our formal education, and allows us to experience first hand the feelings –fear, confusion, incomprehension, happiness- that allowed our precursors to formulate the theories that Anthropology is built upon.
Robertson goes on, “Getting to work and live in a culture so different from my own helped me to better understand cultural, social and economical differences across the globe, and doing it alongside a professor I had studied under really gave me a better sense of what Anthropology really is, outside the classroom.”
As most professors would tell you, theory and practice do not always correspond. However, an understanding of practice allows for a more complex understanding of what is studied in the classroom.
Ashley DeYoung, an X alumni, who is currently completing her thesis at UBC in Archaeology states, “my international undergraduate experiences required me to critically engage with, evaluate, and sometimes modify things that I had learned through coursework”.
Many students who participate in such research echo DeYoung’s feelings.
Hands on research in a setting outside of the classroom often helps students to engage with their chosen paths, and at times gives them a better idea of what they want to do with their future.
Ultimately such experiences can save students money, as they avoid classes or degree paths that don’t interest them on a practical level.
Catherine Emmens, a fourth year student completing her degree in Anthropology elaborates: ”The trip helped me realize what I did [...] and did not like about Archaeology. [...] As great of a trip as it was I think maybe I’ll focus myself on something a little different then the Archaeology aspect, I like the History, the lab portion so maybe archiving.”
Considering an undergraduate education is often general, and that much specialization occurs at the graduate studies level, it pays to have a good idea of what you love to do.
Most participants on the trip cite the experience of making friends and acquaintances with local Panamanians as extremely rewarding.
As Emmens says, “We were foreigners but we tried not to treat ourselves as foreigners”. The group lived and worked within the community, and interacted with locals on an everyday basis.
From ordering food at the cafeteria style restaurants to running into neighbors on the street, it became necessary to understand certain aspects of the culture (there is no such thing as an orderly line in Panamanian culture) and to stumble through basic conversations in Spanish (although sometimes you end up speaking French, or Portuguese).
Personally, surrounded by a culture where machismo culture (simply put, an emphasis on masculinity, or “macho”) is still very apparent was at times difficult.
In a crew composed largely of women, it was frustrating to have to prove yourself time and time again to local men who were not used to seeing women perform field work.
However, in a great show of two cultures cooperating, we eventually sorted ourselves out, and worked extremely well all together.
After seven weeks of digging, washing artifacts and counting shell fragments, we arrived for our final days in Panama City.
That night, we stood out on our balcony overlooking downtown Panama city, surrounded by friends and that pervasive heat, shook up a bottle of champagne and rose a glass to a country we had all fallen in love with, people who were endlessly generous and hospitable, and to the joy of digging one by ones.
Emily Burns is a third year Environmental Science student who spent her summer studying global climate models, under the supervision of Dr David Risk, a Professor in the Environmental Sciences department.
She is an excellent example of how a younger student can use research to refine their academic interests before they must choose thesis topics or begin looking for graduate schools.
Burns’ research involved both analysis of computer output and field work, with the end result being a paper in which hopes to evaluate the soil component of the models being studied.
She is hopeful that the report will help her to narrow her search for a thesis topic.
Burns also did field work with a master’s student, in the Abe’s lake region.
She explains that she enjoyed the field work, with the only inconveniences being the bugs, the heat and the bears they would occasionally hear or see while in the woods.
While Burns did have the option to continue on with this summer’s research as an honours topic, she has chosen not to and is instead opting to expose herself to a wider variety of work.
Burns states that her experience with research has changed her ultimate goals in academia, shifting her focus towards private sector work.
Her research interests within environmental science are “so broad”; partly because of the wide variety of subjects she has studied in school.
Between water, carbon mitigation and predictive models, Burns explains that she would have had trouble narrowing her interests had she not had hands on experience.
For example, she explains that while she find the results generated by mathematical models to be very interesting, she can’t see herself engaging in such a mathematics heavy field for any length of time.
Burns recommends that students engage in research because it opens up opportunities that may not have been present.
“It really puts into perspective what you could be doing,” she says, “You learn so much more than you do in a classroom, and you’re exposed to what is expected of you [outside of the classroom]”.
One benefit that many students cite as being extremely exciting is being an active part of research.
Burns also found this to be rewarding. “You’re exposed to an atmosphere where everyone’s working, everyone’s learning, and ideas are bounced off you. You do so much learning. It’s good, I would definitely recommend it. It’s also a lot of fun”.
Marissa Webber is a fourth year Honours Biology student, and she spent her summer doing research under the supervision of Dr Russell Wyeth, a professor in the Biology department.
Her research took place in Bamfield, a small community of about 200 people located on Vancouver Island.
The community is a haven for those whose research focuses on Marine Biology, and more specifically on marine invertebrates.
Webber’s research centered on Hermissenda crassicornis, a sea slug found primarily on the west coast of Canada, from Alaska to the Vancouver region.
Webber’s days consisted of collecting the small sea slugs off dock lines, and dissecting their brains which were then used in experiments concerning their brain chemistry.
The research she engaged in over the summer will be the basis for her honours thesis, and Webber is hoping to continue on to do her Master’s degree at Bamfield.
While her research was extremely successful, she is hoping to move forward and engage in research concerning the behavioural neuroscience of the sea slug.
One of the advantages to taking the opportunity to travel while doing research is students are often surrounded by peers with similar research interests.
Webber explains that between living with Masters and PhD students, and being given the opportunity to discuss and work with them, her own interests were widened as well as making connections and friends within a prestigious research community.
Webber reiterates what most students engaged in research feel is one of the greatest benefits.
“When you’re in a classroom and you’re reading about all these things, that’s awesome, but then you get to go and experience things that you learn [...] and everything you learn becomes cemented in your brain.”
Beyond the normal academic benefits of conducting research, students often pick up some rather unusual skills.
Webber explains that while her first brain dissections took over an hour and a half, by the end of her time working at Bamfield, she could complete a dissection in less than ten minutes.
Webber recommends that interested students speak to their professors or professors who may have connections with people with similar interests in order to become involved in research.
While keeping marks high always helps, she stresses the importance of passion and determination in those who wish to engage in research.
Besides making you a valuable assistant to the supervisor, you’re own interest in the subject matter will make your research more fun than tedious.
