JV
Joseph Valenti
  • Business Administration
  • Class of 2014
  • Clifton Park, NY

Joseph Valenti Visits Galapagos & Amazon Rainforest in SUNY Potsdam Winterim Trip

2011 Feb 28

When packing for one of the many Winterim courses offered through The State University of New York at Potsdam each year, most students would gather items necessary for surviving the bitter cold of a Potsdam winter -- snow boots, parka, mittens and a sturdy hat.

However, students participating in the new international travel course, "Voyage to the Galapagos and Amazon Rainforests," required a slightly different packing list. Along with the parka, students also packed hiking boots, swim trunks, shorts, sandals and a snorkel for the two-week journey to the Galapagos Islands.

This past Winterim, 11 students and seven faculty members and chaperones traveled to the Galapagos Islands and Amazon rainforest in an interdisciplinary course over the College's winter break.

Joseph Valenti, a sophomore from Clifton Park, N.Y., joined the journey.

Led by Dr. Steve Marqusee, interim dean of SUNY Potsdam's School of Arts and Sciences, the students spent two weeks studying biology, geology, anthropology and environmental studies in the exotic locales of South America.

During their travels in South America, the group explored the ancient city of Quito, Ecuador, and traveled to the Amazon rainforest for three days to study at the Tiputini Biodiversity Station. They also visited a stone monument denoting the location of the equator at the ancient archeological site of Catequilla, high up in the Andes Mountains in Ecuador.

The group also visited the Bellavista Cloud Reserve, a tropical cloud forest that is located between 1,400 and 2,600 meters above sea level, and the Galápagos Islands, an ecological paradise known as the inspiration for Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species."

SUNY Potsdam's Winterim consists of a three-week session for online courses, and a two-week session for on campus and travel courses. The session attracts current SUNY Potsdam students and visiting students from other Associated Colleges of the St. Lawrence Valley -- SUNY Canton, St. Lawrence University and Clarkson University -- as well as students from other public and private colleges throughout New York State. "Voyage to the Galapagos and Amazon Rainforests" was one of two international travel courses offered through Winterim 2011 this year.

For more information about Winterim at SUNY Potsdam, visit www.potsdam.edu/academics/ExtEd/winterim/WinterimWelcome.cfm.

Founded in 1816, and located on the outskirts of the beautiful Adirondack Park, The State University of New York at Potsdam is one of America's first 100 colleges. SUNY Potsdam currently enrolls approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students. Home to the world-renowned Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam is known for its handcrafted education, challenging liberal arts and sciences core, excellence in teacher training, and leadership in the performing and visual arts.

-www.potsdam.edu-