Students widen their horizons by studying abroad

      Macrina Savko, a senior in Forest Management, spent her fall term in southern Mexico in the state of Michoacan, conducting undergraduate research at the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. Working with the Monarch Butterfly Model Forest program (part of the International Model Forest Network, a nongovernmental organization), Savko conducted interviews

Macrina Savko with one of her study subjects, the majestic monarch butterfly.

with landowners and toured the private andcooperative forestlands that have been declared a reserve for the monarch butterflies by the government of Mexico. The reserve covers over 60,000 hectares that are home to the migratory butterfly during the late fall and winter. The reserve is forest land, with primarily fir (Abies religiosa), and some pine.
      Savko was interested in how the reserve status of the land affected the private and communal landowners. In the buffer zone there is limited timber harvest

allowed, but in the so-called nuclear zone, where the butterflies are concentrated during hibernation, no harvest is allowed. In addition, the laws that affect the landowners aren't necessarily scientifically based, says Savko, and their broad nature leads to complications for the landowners.
      The major problem facing the people, Savko observed, is the lack of other economic opportunities in the area. Some of the potential alternative sources of income for the people are trout, honey, mushrooms and tourism.
      For Deb Hill, a senior Natural Resources major from Oregon City, going to South Africa was a goal from the time she came to OSU. The second student from OSU to travel to South Africa in the exchange program, Hill is taking forestry classes at the University of Stellenbosch, an hour away from Cape Town. Hill's schedule includes a silviculture class, conservation management, community forestry, and a class on wine.
      In addition to academic endeavors, Hill is learning about the culture of South Africa. In a visit to the township of Kayamandi, outside of Stellenbosch, Hill got to see a different side of the country. "We started walking through the township, and the first thing I saw were several women cooking goat heads. Actually severed heads sitting in a bucket covered with flies. The women were blackening the outside of the heads with metal sticks they heated in a fire. We walked through the meat market where chickens were overcrowded in cages, their feathers picked thin, patches of skin showing everywhere."
      These images will forever be

imprinted on Hill's mind. "I wanted to document my experiences here and hopefully share South Africa with others when I get home, but I also wanted to take pictures just for the sake of art. But I was so ashamed of the gross economic inequality between them and me

Deb Hill visits Robben Island, a penal colony where Nelson Mandela was held.

that I never took my camera out and took a single picture." She did document her expericence on her web site, which can be seen at www.geocities.com/africadeb2002.
      Hill hopes to take what she is learning about community forestry and apply it in her future plans. "I want to work internationally, either with the Peace Corps or a similar organization. I have learned how communities function and how to work with people," said Hill. "I have also learned about the role of the community forester as a facilitator."

    --L.R.