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Travel Reports

2008 Travel Reports – Ciara Wirth – Ecuador – Mapping the Amazon: PGIS in Waorani Communities within the Ecuadorian Orient

Posted: Mar. 2nd, 2009 | Last modified: May. 8th, 2009 | Category: Travel Reports

A preliminary investigation into the effects of strong missionary influence and oil development on the land use practices of Waorani communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon. – Ciara Wirth, Varsha Vijay and Nicole Scheuneman

Introduction: Participatory GIS, or PGIS, is a system developed in the 1980s to provide a better interface between researchers and indigenous peoples. Today, with the advent of modern GPS technologies, (…)

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2008 Travel Report – Edgar Mkrtchian – Cartagena, Colombia

Posted: Mar. 2nd, 2009 | Last modified: May. 8th, 2009 | Category: Travel Reports

There it was – the look, the stares that I got as soon as I entered a place like this following after the Profamilia workers. The look, which seemed to follow me everywhere I went seemed to say“ What is that guy doing here? He’s not from around here? What does he want?” This was a sort of self-constituting othering (…)

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2008 Travel Report – Meredith Barrett – Madagascar

Posted: Mar. 2nd, 2009 | Last modified: May. 8th, 2009 | Category: Travel Reports

The DUCIS Global Health Graduate Award funds allowed me to complete the majority of the data collection that I will need for my dissertation research project. I worked in Madagascar from June until October and visited four research sites: Kirindy Mitea National Park, Betmapona Strict Nature Reserve, Parc Ivoloina and Analamazaotra Nature Reserve. At these sites, I was able to establish (…)

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2008 Travel Report – Li Yi – Beijing, China

Posted: Mar. 2nd, 2009 | Last modified: May. 8th, 2009 | Category: Travel Reports

After passing the dissertation proposal on May 9th, 2008, I started to plan for the trip to China. In my proposal, I planed to conduct part of my research project in China. My goal was to collect high-quality data of at least 30 adults and 70 3- to 6- year-old children in 6 weeks.

For the experimental purpose I need to (…)

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2008 Travel Report – Louisa Lombard – Central African Republic

Posted: Mar. 2nd, 2009 | Last modified: May. 8th, 2009 | Category: Travel Reports

A couple of memorable moments during my research in Northeast Central African Republic (CAR), up in the corner between Chad and Sudan, this summer: observing a deaf man talk on his cell phone (still haven’t figured that one out – the man can’t speak, nor can he write); meeting the Shaq-sized former rebel leader/diamond dealer/hunter/merchant who controls the territory; getting (…)

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2008 Travel Report – Rachelle Rebong – Cuzco, Peru

Posted: Mar. 2nd, 2009 | Last modified: May. 8th, 2009 | Category: Travel Reports

I woke up as the plane approached Cuzco and saw half the passengers straining out of their seats, trying to get a glimpse of something outside the window. “What’s going on?” I asked my seat mate.

“The mountains,” she said. “They’re so high they almost touch the plane.” At that, I too turned in my seat and watched as the city (…)

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