TA Adam

Hi all, this is Adam, and I am uber excited to be the TA for this trip. I was reading through your posts, and I thought I would introduce myself and let you all know what I am looking forward to in NZ. I am a graduate student in the geology department and I spend most of my time working on submarine robots and coastal field research for Art. When not doing that you can find me teaching geology, and a few of you have even been “lucky”(cough cough) enough to have me as a TA previously. But seriously, I got into this field because I have loved the beach ever since I was a kid, and one of the things I am most looking forward to in NZ is being able to share some of my passion for the coast with all of you. I will be helping Art and Doug with all aspects of their courses and you might even see a few lectures or a field trip from me as well.

As for the free weekend, I am planning on hitting up the South Island, and I have done some preliminary research on flight and transport options down there. I recently learned that the BBC ranked the South Island # 4 on their list of 50 places to see before you die, which pretty much sealed the deal for me. I also want to do some sailing (my absolute favorite activity) while in NZ. The Lonely Planet guide book doesn’t have too much info on it, but I read that there are more sailboats in NZ than cars, so hopefully it wont be to hard to get out on the water.

A final note: I have been lucky enough to participate as a TA or a student on a number of field courses, and I have learned that a one thing is always the same. No matter how good or bad the weather, food, bugs, etc are; when the trip is over, you realize that you learned more than you ever thought you would, and you had more fun than you ever could have imagined.

See you all Tuesday.