Educational experience of a lifetime

Mike Sciacca

There were no lions, tigers or bears in sight. All Jeff Goodman had to

contend with were lemurs, crocodiles, boa constrictors and scorpions.

Goodman began his senior year of high school a month earlier than most

of his fellow classmates at Edison High School. It began with an

educational trip to the island of Madagascar off the southeast coast of

Africa. He went with the environmental group Earthwatch Institute, and

spent two weeks in Ampijoroa National Park working with noted biologist

Luke Dollar of Columbia University. Goodman was the lone high school

student among a group of 10 adults, mostly teachers from the U.S. and

Britain, who went to the southeast coast of Africa to observe lemurs,

capture and radio collar native carnivores -- called fossas -- that prey

upon the endangered lemurs and record valuable scientific data.

“It was an amazing expedition,” Goodman said. “I got to see a region

of the world that normally, I would not.”

The 17-year-old endured a 28-hour trip to reach Madagascar. He needed

a special visa, shots and proof of receiving a yellow fever inoculation

just to be able to enter the country. Once there, he lived in a tent

under a hut made of palm branches in a region that had no gas or

electricity and no running water. They lived mostly on “lots of rice and

beans” and drank purified water and Coca Cola, which, Goodman said, was

bottled in Mozambique.

“It was well worth it and so educational,” he said. “I was in an

outdoor classroom learning about things that are so different from our

part of the world.”

The mission of the Earthwatch Institute is to promote sustainable

conservation of natural resources and cultural heritage by creating

partnerships between scientists, educators and the general public through

three primary objectives: research, education and conservation.

Founded in Boston, Mass. the institute has offices in England,

Australia and Japan and boasts 50,000 members and supporters worldwide.

Some 3,500 of its members volunteer their time and skills to work with

120 research scientists each year on Earthwatch field research projects

in more than 50 countries around the world.

“I’m pretty much interested in the social sciences,” he said. “The

trip to Madagascar was something that I figured I wouldn’t get to do

again, especially now that I’m going to college next year. I’d advise a

trip like this to any student but just make sure that you have the time

and resources to do so and pick an expedition that interests you.”