Girls gear up for Amazon journey
A SCIENTIFIC trip to the Amazon awaits two top students as they prepare for the future challenges of university life.
Rebecca Senior and Sian Heys, both Todmorden High School students, have been chosen to go on a five-week trip to Peru in July to conduct scientific surveys on endangered and indicator species.
And as part of their fundraising for the trip they would like to hear from any local companies which might like to sponsor them. Both have experience of public speaking and would be happy to give a presentation to organisations or companies about their trip.
“We will be tracking certain species through the jungle to record the biodiversity in the area,” explained Rebecca, who has been offered a place at King’s College, Cambridge to study natural science.
“As part of the work that we will do there we will be moving turtle eggs to safer places to protect them from poachers and we will be tracking indicator species, which are used to determine how well the biodiversity is in the region, such as macaws, howler monkeys, caiman and river dolphin.”
Sian, who has been offered a place at Newcastle University, has always wanted to go to the Amazon.
“This is something I’ve dreamed of doing since I was a little girl. We’ll have to have lots of injections before we go and I’m not really looking forward to the bugs but it’s going to be a fantastic experience.”
Both Rebecca and Sian have been working for the Duke of Edinburgh Award and they will go on a specialist training course in April to prepare them for the rigours of the jungle.
The trip is organised by British Schools Exploring Society (BSES), with the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology.
Team members, who come from all parts of Britain, will be trained in advanced jungle camp craft, river canoeing and overland tracking skills, as they work alongside indigenous Cocama field assistants.
The area that they will be operating in, the Pacaya Samiria National Park is bordered by the Rio Maranon and Rio Ucayali, which both flood during the wet season creating a unique environment with incredible biodiversity.
Access to this region is only granted to scientific expeditions and the work that they carry out is essential to determine the state of the biodiversity there.
Anyone interested in sponsoring Rebecca and Sian can contact them through Todmorden High School on 01706 813558.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Halifax
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: -6 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
