Bill Durham's Sophomore College Seminars

2018 Seminar

Introduction

This course views the Galapagos Islands as a “living laboratory” for the study of evolution and conservation. We will explore this laboratory through both the scientific literature about Galapagos and its unusual flora and fauna, and through our first-hand visit to the archipelago. Part of the course will be historical, focused on the history of scientific research in Galapagos ever since Darwin, and part will be contemporary, assessing ongoing research on evolution and conservation in the Galapagos today. Readings and class discussions will be fairly evenly divided between these two dimensions. A key theme of the class is that evolution and conservation are closely related sciences in Galapagos: time and time again, we will see how the evolution of Galapagos-specific adaptations has left indigenous organisms with special vulnerabilities that are a big conservation challenge today.

Trip Leaders

Bill Durham

William Durham received his Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Michigan before joining the Stanford faculty in human biology and anthropology. His current research focuses on conservation and development issues in Latin America, especially in the Amazon and Galápagos, and on connections between environmental change and emerging infectious diseases. Winner of the MacArthur Prize and several awards for research and teaching, Durham is author of Scarcity and Survival in Central America and Coevolution: Genes, Culture, and Human Diversity.

Caroline Ferguson (SCA)

Caroline Ferguson is a PhD student in the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER), advised by Bill Durham. Her research takes place in Palau and the Marshall Islands, two independent island nations in the Pacific Ocean once colonized by the United States. Her interests include environmental justice, women's fisheries, and protected areas. Caroline was also a Stanford undergraduate, where she received her BA in Human Biology and her MS in Earth Systems. Her fondest memories of are of hanging-out on the trampoline at Synergy and studying abroad in Australia and Palau.

Neil Nathan (SCA)

Neil is a rising senior majoring in Earth Systems on the Biosphere track. He has spent time studying at the Hopkins Marine Station and conducted research and assisted with coral conservation projects in Palau. Neil hopes to find a career in global conservation through international policy and advocacy with NGOs. He’s also incredibly excited to explore the Galápagos with the amazing sophomores and alumni!

Travelers

Click on the links in the sidebar for introductions to trip participants.

Student Projects

Margot Bellon: The Mysterious Diet of Sharp-Beaked Ground Finches

Audrey Bennett: Where did they come from, and where did they Galápa-go? The fascinating story of speciation in Bulimulid land snails

Foster Birnbaum: The Scalesia Genus as an In Situ Model for Evolutionary Theory

Rhys Duarte: Are You Finching Kidding Me? The El Niño Booby Trap

Rozy Eastaugh: A “Natural Laboratory” of Conservation Discourse: The Interaction between Global and Local Communities in the Galápagos

Jonathan Hernandez: Are You Lichen The Food? The Tortoise Diet

Peter Kwak & Lorenzo de La Puente: Galápagos Tourism: Is it Sustainable?

Sammy Price: Chionophiles in the Tropics: The Population Decline of the Galápagos Penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus)

Maisam Pyarali: Co-existing with the crustaceans : What Galapagos lobster fishing teaches us about marine conservation

Claire Smythe: The Changing Climate, ENSO, and it’s Effects on the Wildlife of the Galápagos Islands

Zoe von Gerlach: Why do Nazca Boobies (Sula granti) perform NAV behavior?

Bocar Wade: Living on the Edge The Unique Coastal Adaptations of Galapagos Mangroves

Shannon Yan: Feeling Blue? The Effect of El Nino on Blue-Footed Booby Breeding Rates

Helpful Links

There are two kinds of resources provided below: some for travel preparation and photography, and others related to the themes of the course. These links are provided as supplements to, and not replacements for, content you will receive directly from Stanford Travel-Study. Some of the information provided below may be been updated in more recent documents.