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STUDENT PERSPECTIVESLucy Rowland(2007, Geography)My second year at Catz was an exciting one.A combination of starting on my optional subjectsin my course, researching my dissertation, and asuccessful year of rowing made it an incredible time.As with most other subjects, second year saw thestart of the journey towards Finals and, for me andthe rest of the geographers, it also saw the start ofplanning for our dissertations. Since before I startedat Catz, I knew going to Oxford, unlike many otheruniversities, would give me the opportunity to be reallyadventurous with what I studied for my dissertation.Having studied biogeography as one of my optionaltopics this year, I decided to do a biogeographicaldissertation, focusing on what local ecological factorsare influencing the seasonal growth pattern of tropicalforest trees.After being introduced to Yadvinder Mahli, a worldexpert in tropical forest ecology from the OxfordUniversity Centre for the Environment, I started toset plans for my study, which involved data collectionfrom the tropical forests of Peru. At the start of July,I travelled to Peru, where I was to stay for the nexttwo months. After four plane flights, a long busjourney and a boat ride along the Amazon I arrivedin Tambopata national reserve. This national reserveconsists of a substantial area of protected lowlandmountain rainforest, and remains very isolated. I stayedin a small research centre/eco-lodge for a month whilstcollecting data on the surrounding forest.The experience was amazing; waking up to howlermonkeys and spending my days trekking through theforest accompanied by all manner of wildlife, thenheading back for a quick swim in the river beforewatching the sun reflecting off the water as it set overthe jungle. Neither early mornings nor the many thingsthat tried to eat me could put me off wanting to goback again both to continue research and to experiencemore of the incredible scenery.However it was back to reality as I headed back toOxford with spreadsheets full of data that needed tobe formatted and processed before I attempted to writethe first draft of my dissertation. What a pitythey do not give marks for photographs!Sunset over the tropicalforests of PeruST CATHERINE’S COLLEGE 2008/31