Day 15 in Ecuador!

 As surreal as it feels to say, today was our last day in San Cristóbal. It feels like we've been here forever- despite only being here a week, we've all made so many memories and it's bittersweet to have to leave even when so many more wonderful things are ahead. Tomorrow morning, we leave the hotel bright and early and we'll travel by ferry to Santa Cruz. It's the largest of the 3 islands we'll visit, and hosts even more unique wildlife than what we've seen here- sharks and penguins, which we can't wait to see! While we're there, we'll continue to collect survey data for our research.

 For those who don't know, we're running 2 surveys for data collection: one for tourists, and one for residents.  The one for tourists asks about their health, behavior, and opinions on animals and tourism. The one for residents asks about how tourism affects local communities and their thoughts on it. This'll hopefully paint a better picture of what forces drive the decisions people make around animals while abroad, and how their presence helps or harms local communities. Once we're done collecting data, we'll each have the opportunity to use the data collected to conduct our own research. I'm really excited about this because it'll be my first ever research project! It'll be an exhibit at the Mayborn as well, which you should definitely check out when you get the chance. I used to think I had to have a PhD to conduct research, and if you'd told me that at 20 years old I'd have research in a museum I think I would've passed out then and there. 

Our day today was actually fairly relaxed; we spent it collecting more surveys and got halfway to our goal today! A lot of things are changing as we're shifting gears, but I think the one constant here is how incredible of a trip this has been for all of us. I hope you're having as much fun reading this and keeping in touch with us as we're having here. We'll keep you guys posted on how everything goes! :)

-Hannah