Making Discoveries
June 9th, 2017 | SIT Study Abroad
SIT students spot new species in Ecuador鈥檚 cloud forest
Update: An article on the new species of frog that SIT alumna Mindee Goodrum helped to discover has been published in the Aug 12, 2019, edition of the peer-reviewed science journal .
A lot of people study abroad. Very few turn up a new species while they鈥檙e at it. Study with SIT in Ecuador, however, and the odds go up: Three students in the past year have helped scientists ID potential new species in Ecuador. Last year, Justine Albers found a possible new species of marsupial mammal. This year, Mindee Goodrum turned up a new frog species, and Clayton Ziemke spotted a potential new kind of ant.
In Mindee鈥檚 case, her frog has been confirmed as a new species by the scientist who first spotted it a few years ago, Santiago Ron of PUCE University and Natural History Museum of Quito. Though at first he doubted whether the frog was a new species, Ron says Mindee鈥檚 pictures proved it to him and to colleagues from the museum and the University of Texas. Publication of their findings will come shortly, and the frog will be named for a coffee company which contributes to cloud forest conservation.
The frog discovery was confirmed so quickly primarily because its genus only contains a few species for comparison, explains Xavier Silva, academic director for SIT鈥檚 Ecuador: Comparative Ecology and Conservation program.
Not so with the possum, Silva explains. 鈥淚D-ing a new species of mammal takes a lot longer. Mammals take longer to collect 鈥 they鈥檙e more elusive, and you need more individuals to confirm it.鈥 The ant may take longer yet because there are around 150 species in its genus.
Mindee, a student at St. Michael鈥檚 College in Vermont, says her field work with SIT was 鈥渄efinitely an adventure.鈥 Because she was studying frogs, she had to conduct her work at night. 鈥淲e鈥檇 leave around 3 or 5 o鈥檆lock. There were five different study locations, and they鈥檇 usually take an hour to hike to.鈥
In one case, the trip involved crossing a river by gondola. Once there, she and mentor Juan Pablo Reyes Puig, headlamps aglow, walked a 500-meter path (a 鈥渢ransect鈥) looking for frogs. 鈥淚 was a little nervous the first few nights,鈥 Mindee says. 鈥淚 saw a few lemur-looking mammals, and there were some rustlings we couldn鈥檛 pinpoint.鈥
We鈥檇 leave around 3 or 5 o鈥檆lock. There were five different study locations, and they鈥檇 usually take an hour to hike to.
Before long, though, she grew accustomed to the sounds and sights of the cloud forest night. 鈥淥ur basic goal was to get a survey of the population of frogs at the reserve. There were sites at different elevations and different micro-habitats, and we compared the differences in population between the sites.鈥
Mindee says she 鈥渉ad no idea鈥 when she found the new species. 鈥淲e found the first individual the second week. I was still learning the species, and my advisor was helping me with the identification. I was on the lookout for that genus 鈥 it鈥檚 much more rare. It鈥檚 typically out in the day and not as abundant.鈥
Mindee says her SIT study abroad experience was quite different from what many of her friends did. 鈥淢y friends who were abroad 鈥 they were doing completely different things. Even the ones doing science were in the cities. Meanwhile, I was saying, 鈥極K, guys, you鈥檙e not gonna hear from me. I鈥檒l be in the Amazon for a week.鈥欌
Not only does SIT Ecuador go deep into the Amazon, students visit the Galapagos Islands, the famous site of Charles Darwin鈥檚 studies that helped form his theory of evolution. The aim is more than tourism, says Mindee. 鈥淭he work was challenging 鈥 kind of rare for study abroad.鈥
This one that Mindee discovered lives in an area of only 1,000 acres. This is why in Ecuador we still find new species every year, and why preservation of these habitats is so important. You can easily lose two or three species in a very small area.
Because students do hands-on scientific work, says Xavier, the competitive program requires them to have a strong interest in the field, high grades, and a background in biology and environmental studies.
Because students do hands-on scientific work, says Xavier, the competitive program requires them to have 聽a strong interest in the field, high grades, and a background in biology and environmental studies.
Their work is often vital, he explains. 鈥淚f its habitat is destroyed, a species disappears altogether. This one that Mindee discovered lives in an area of only 1,000 acres. This is why in Ecuador we still find new species every year, and why preservation of these habitats is so important. You can easily lose two or three species in a very small area.鈥
For Mindee and other students, the rewards that come from SIT鈥檚 academic focus are considerable. 鈥淚 hope to be part of the paper where they鈥檙e going to describe the new species,鈥 says Mindee. Such publications, she explains, will use her data, and data from previous SIT students. She may also seek publication of her Independent Study Project, which is a core component of most SIT Study Abroad programs.
Academic Director Silva says Ecuador is a particularly good place for students who want to study biology and ecosystems. 鈥淓cuador has a lot of ecological diversity and habitat types.. New species are discovered an average of two times per year, which is amazing. In other parts of the world it might be one new species every 10 years.鈥
SIT Ecuador, he says, is unusual in other ways. The program attracts students from many universities, many of them working with well-known professors. 鈥淲e also have a network of reserves and national parks, and we work with local scientists,鈥 says Xavier. 鈥淭his is a positive difference for SIT 鈥 we work in every corner of the country.鈥