Natural History Journal - Integration and Reflection

Leah Schaffer


Field in the Alaskan Wetlands
Photo:  Leah Schaffer

While all biomes maintain some degree of species diversity, the most complex branches seem to be those of smaller forms of vegetation and animal life.  Understandably, these biomes rely heavily upon a system of cooperation and the fulfillment of niches.  This behavior is reflective of the fragility of their nature in such harsh conditions.  The vulnerability of these environments, then, is intensified because even the slightest changes will have strong impacts because the availability of species capable of adaptation is limited. - (Natural History journal reflection.




Troy abandoned
Photo: Leah Schaffer

In our continued discussion of biomes, we agreed that life follows water.  In every ancient city we visited in Turkey, we saw the trend of flourish and fall.  The evidence that was left behind suggests the complexity and ingenuity of the people there.  I kept asking myself: why if things were set up so well did these cities not remain to evolve into modern cities that would still thrive today?  In every case, it has been the same answer: the water moved, so too did they.  Natural History journal reflection.




Jumping in the desert of Dubai
Photo:  Leah Schaffer

            When we left our lives behind in Cleveland back in January, we really had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.  We had no way of judging the overflow of sensory information that we were about to receive from our surroundings as we traveled from place to place.  I think we may have fought it at first, trying to control our reactions to fulfill some expectation we formed before we left.  But, there came a point in the trip when we let go and leapt into the unknown. Natural History journal observation.

Leah Schaffer
schafferlj at my.hiram.edu
Last updated 27 October 2008