domingo, 20 de mayo de 2012

Foreword

"Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlán is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing." Aldous Huxley

Aldous was right when he said this. There is no doubt, Atitlan is beatiful. And it’s nice to be able to appreciate it’s beauty. But that isn’t all we’ve got to see. There is a natural value on lake Atitlan that is as intrinsec to it’s beauty as the gorgeous colors of a butterfly are needed for it’s species to survive.

Understanding the synchronies of our planet – in which as knowledgeable beings we are, we are to play a vital role – is a privilege. What a joy!

Yet, the path of knowledge isn’t always a straight-forward path. “If we can see far into the horizon, it’s because we walk over the shoulders of giants” – Bernard de Chatres. Each true member of the science community has granted us his’ or her’s legacy. We may talk of a knowledge-base legacy in some cases, while in other cases we might be talking of tools.

Tools, previous developed tools, can lead us to be more precise and efficient on our distinct projects and works. In that sense, this is an effort to provide a framework where any limnologist can record it’s data and analyze patterns and simils with other works around the world. Cor Lacus is being born.

Gratitude

I'ts been a week since we came back to Guatemala, a full week with all the duties that it can represent at home, at the university, at the office and some other personal ones. Despite that fact, the emotional influence of those days at the lake, endures. And it most endure, not only through a first week or a month. This scientific expedition can be a true benchmark in one's professional life.

Gratitude is the title of my post because I think that was the general feeling amongst the students. It's always encouraging to see people work for what you love, like Lake Atitlan. But how often do you get to live with a team built from three different universities for 2 weeks? When you get an idea of the magnitude of the event, you can only be grateful.

I'll be posting more in the days to come, briefing my days with Ati. Just wanted to start by saying Thank you.

viernes, 18 de mayo de 2012

VIDEOS 2012 & 2010

Here it's a video from the 2012 expedition made by Rana Braeuner & Isa Arriola.
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Aquí está un vídeo de la expedición 2012 hecho por Rana Braeuner e Isa Arriola.



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...And here it's a video from the 2010 expedition made by Hugo Villavicencio.
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...Y aquí está un vídeo de la expedición del 2010 hecho por Hugo Villavicencio.

martes, 15 de mayo de 2012

The 2012 Expedition its over... Now there's a lot to do! --- Hugo Villavicencio

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(Descripción en español al final)
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This May 13th the 2012 Atitlan Scientific Expedition came to its end. I think that for the new generation, both for foreign scientists who had not come before, as for national students, it’s been a unique and very exciting experience. This time, however, I had a different feeling from that of 2010. This time my feeling is satisfaction that everything went very well and that I was able to work again with many friends I met in 2010. I don’t feel sad this time, as probably the new generation feels. The reason, well, I’m confident that we will continue working together, both in Guatemala and the U.S. or Czech Republic, as we have done since 2010. Sudeep Chandra, one of the leaders of the expedition, once said: "Goodbyes are overrated". And he was right. After the first scientific expedition, I`ve worked with them in June, August, December, I saw them in February 2011, and worked with many of them again at the Castle Lake limnological station in California. This will continue, and gradually, we will ensure the future of Lake Atitlan, and many of Guatemala’s inland waters.



As a sports fan, when choosing someone, I think of it in sports terms ... So in this 2012 season, I’m happy about the 'signings' I made. I felt like Phil Jackson or Guardiola when suggesting them ... LOL. The key is to look for people who have ability and are excited by the subjects of these investigations, who are also willing to work and are not negative or problematic people. The latter is critical for the team’s harmony to be maintained. It is not enough just to know a lot when working on these projects. Personally, I recommended Rana and Isa, my university colleagues, who meet the above key conditions. Both were very helpful to this project. They like fish and aquatic invertebrates, which they identified and counted by hundreds. Isa helped to deploy bioessays when the lake was choppy, thanks to her pentathlon skills, she had no problems while doing so. Rana contributed greatly to its chemical analysis. In general, the new generation worked very well. And of course, the foreign team was great as usual. None of them were arrogant despite their scientific level, they all remained positive, and were always willing to answer and explain in detail any of the questions we had.






I want to mention again that this expedition was more efficient than the one in 2010. We achieved more with the same effort, and achieved all the goals we had. There was even time for personal projects that were presented by students at the end. But of course, the past experience was the key in all this, so everything was more focused now, everyone was aware of the potential problems and the new generation had a week of training before going to the field.



What I liked more about this expedition, from my perspective as a TA - Teacher Assistant, was to be in a unique situation, a intermediate between students and foreign scientists. I remembered how I felt in 2010 when helping the new students. This time, the pressure of foreign scientists extended to me. I had to do many unscientific work so investigations worked well; eg blacksmith, purchase of materials, preparation and solicitation for ships and boats, to contact many people and make sure that the limnological equipment worked well. The latter included reading guides to calibrate the new physicochemical parameters readers, repair and / or improve various mechanical pieces and also check my photos and information from past expeditions to properly place and secure the pulley systems for sampling. The good thing about Guatemala is that blacksmiths are very skillful and charge cheap prices. This facilitated the development of key tools to take samples from 315 m deep with a drill. Otherwise they would have been done manually, which is not only very tiring, but slow, and as of lake Atitlan where Xocomil hits hard at midday, makes work almost impossible due to the strings moving and generating an unwanted non-vertical angle. All the limnological equipment; from the simple secchi disk to the Eckman traps and the YSI; are very tricky and if a small piece of metal as of 5 cm fails, it can mean a mediocre or lost workday, which translates into wasted money. The strong wind blowing in Atitlán makes everything into a greater challenge and a race against time. In this expedition I was in charge of monitoring the big boat, and I did it 'like a boss' LOL.



Finally, I want to thank our financers, the scientists (foreign and guatemalan) that worked and put their energy and time in our lake, and everyone who’s willing to support the conservation of Atitlán.



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Este domingo 13 de Mayo finalizó la expedición científica de Atitlán 2012. Puedo afirmar que para la nueva generación presente, tanto de científicos extranjeros que no habían venido, como de estudiantes nacionales, ha sido una experiencia única y bastante emocionante. En esta ocasión tuve un sentimiento diferente al del 2010. Esta vez el sentimiento es de satisfacción de que todo resultó muy bien y de poder haber trabajado y convivido de nuevo con varios amigos que hice en las expediciones pasadas. No siento tristeza al despedirme como en el 2010. Esto es porque tengo la confianza en que seguiremos trabajando juntos, tanto en Guatemala como en EEUU o bien República Checa, como lo hemos hecho desde que esto inicio.  Sudeep Chandra, uno de los líderes de la Expedición dijo una vez: “Goodbyes are overrated” (las despedidas están sobreestimadas). Y ha tenido razón. Luego de la Expedición de Abril de 2010 trabajé con ellos en Junio, Agosto, Diciembre, los vi en Febrero de 2011, y volví a trabajar con ellos en la estación de Castle Lake, California. Esto continuará, y poco a poco se asegurará el futuro del Lago de Atitlán, y de los cuerpos de agua continentales del país.

Como fanático de los deportes, al momento de seleccionar a alguien lo pienso en términos deportivos… Así que en esta temporada 2012, tengo que aceptar que estoy contento por los ‘fichajes’ realizados. Me sentí como Phil Jackson o Guardiola al momento de sugerirlos… JAJA. La clave es buscar a gente que tenga habilidad y se emocione por los temas de estas investigaciones, que esté dispuesta a trabajar y que no sean personas negativas o problemáticas. Esto último es crítico para que la armonía del equipo se mantenga. No es suficiente el solo saber mucho del tema al momento de trabajar en estos proyectos.  En lo personal, recomendé a Rana e Isa, colegas de mi universidad, quienes cumplen lo mencionado, y ambas fueron de gran ayuda al proyecto. A las 2 les gustan los peces e invertebrados acuáticos, los cuales identificaron y contaron por cientos. Isa ayudó a colocar y retirar bioensayos cuando al lago estaba picado, gracias a sus habilidades de pentatlón no tuvo problemas. Rana contribuyó bastante al análisis químico del mismo.  En general, el resto de estudiantes de la nueva generación convocados trabajaron muy bien.  Y por supuesto, el equipo de extranjeros también tenía las características que mencioné. Ninguno de ellos fue prepotente a pesar de sus títulos y nivel científico. Ellos siempre se mantenían positivos y estaban dispuestos a responder y explicar a detalle cualquier duda que tuviésemos.

Vuelvo a mencionar que esta expedición fue más eficiente que la del 2010. Se logró más con el mismo esfuerzo y se alcanzaron todas las metas establecidas. Incluso hubo tiempo para proyectos personales y que fueran presentados por los estudiantes. Claro, la experiencia pasada fue clave en todo esto, de manera que ahora todo iba más enfocado, se tenía conocimiento de los posibles problemas y la nueva generación tuvo una semana de capacitación teórica antes de ir al campo.

Entre lo que más me gustó de esta expedición, desde mi punto de vista como T.A – Teacher Assistant o auxiliar, fue el estar en una situación única; intermedia entre los estudiantes y los científicos extranjeros. Me recordé de cuando esto inició en el 2010 al ayudar a la nueva generación. Al mismo tiempo, la presión de los científicos extranjeros se extendía a mí y tenía que hacer bastante trabajo no científico para que las investigaciones funcionaran; ej: herrería, compra de materiales, preparar y solicitar los barcos y lanchas, contactar a xyz personas y velar por el equipo de muestreo y su buen funcionamiento. Esto último incluía leer guías para calibrar los nuevos lectores de parámetros fisicoquímicos, reparar y/o mejorar varias piezas y al mismo tiempo chequear mis fotos e información de expediciones pasadas para poder colocar de forma correcta y segura los sistemas de poleas para el muestreo. Lo bueno en Guatemala, es que los herreros son muy ingeniosos y cobran barato sus servicios. Esto facilitó la creación de herramientas clave para poder sacar las muestras de más de 315 m de profundidad con un taladro. De lo contrario se tendría que haber hecho manualmente, lo cual no solo es muy cansado, sino tardado, y en un lago como Atitlán donde el Xocomil golpea fuerte al medio día, hace que el trabajo sea casi imposible al mover las cuerdas y generar un ángulo no vertical indeseado. Todo el equipo limnológico, desde el más simple como el disco secchi, hasta las trampas Eckman y el YSI conllevan mucho tecnicismo y el que no funcione una pequeña pieza de metal de 5 cm puede significar un día de trabajo perdido o mediocre que se traduce a dinero malgastado. Y el viento fuerte en Atitlán hace todo un desafío mayor y una carrera contra el tiempo.  Estuve a cargo del monitoreo en el barco grande, y lo hice ‘like a boss’ JAJA.

Finalmente quiero agradecer a quienes financiaron todo esto, a los científicos (nacionales y extranjeros) que se interesan y dedican su energía y tiempo en trabajar en nuestro lago y a todo aquel que aprecia nuestro Atitlán y está en pro de su mejora y conservación.

We are a big family :)

Well yesterday i returned to my home and i have many memories about this three weeks because we work together for lake Atitlán. All the lessons, experiences, laughs, efforts ans hugs at the end means so much for me! I just want to say thanks guys for everythingwas done here, all expedition was incredible!
But the most important thing is: I understood better the situation of the lake and we have to do many things to preserve it because is wonderful and has a natura beauty!
Now we have the bases to star working and do it with such enthusiams and energy as you :)
I have to say yesterday it was very difficult say "bye" or "i hope see you again" in such a short time, is truth but each person has a space in my heart! We are a big family for Lake Atitlán!
So, this is just the beginnning..


A big family

We are a incredible group!
-Luisa Donis-

lunes, 14 de mayo de 2012

HASTA LUEGO JOVENES INVESTIGADORES

Bueno.. Ayer termino la expedición científica a el lago Atitlan.. En lo personal estoy muy agradecido con todos mis compañeros que fueron mi familia por dos semanas, y por supuesto a mis profesores que dedicaron su tiempo para explicarme cosas nuevas que no sabía. Estoy escribiendo estas líneas en el comedor de mi casa, pero aun llevo conmigo el humor de la expedición, la risa de cada uno, las frases y apodos de cada uno. Mi apodo “Reciclaje”.. el mejor apodo que me  han puesto (me identifico con el apodo ), jajajaja… pero todo estuvo muy divertido… Quiero aprovechar para felicitar a cada uno de mis compañeros por las excelentes exposiciones que dieron, resultado de su proyecto de investigación, cada uno aporto algo especial, dio su toque y expuso de la mejor manera. Ojala nos volvamos a ver y compartir un poco de nuestras vidas. Gracias por dejarme esta experiencia inolvidable, pues cada uno marco un pedacito de mi vida. Gracias expedición, Todos Unidos por un Lago Atitlan Vivo!!! Pilas mucha

Ricardo Molina

Back into reality

It was sad to return to the city after three weeks of such a intense and interesting training with such a great group. I think we all learned a lot from each other and specially from all the investigators! I think we all felt very honored to be part of the expedition and personally it has been one of the best experiences i´ve ever had. It was amazing how all the group worked together and how everyone helped in all the tasks even if it was optional. Another thing that I liked is how in such a short time we got to know and like each other, at the end it was like a big family.

Having said all this I think it is very inspiring for me to have participated in such a big proyect that certainly will influence the way many people see the lake and its problematic. Personally i´m planning to take more interest in the lake and to encourage other people to care more about it so we can do something together to save it. I hope this program is going to be continued because it really influences the chances the lakes in Guatemala have to be studied and managed properly.

Isabel Herrarte