What are you up to now?

Alana Belcon

REU '03

Mentor: Aaron Ellison

Project: Distribution and diversity of bog vegetation at Tom Swamp

Hometown: Arima, Trinidad & Tobago

College and major: Mount Holyoke College, Environmental Studies, class of 2004

• What you miss most about the REU program: The camaraderie between participants. It was awesome being with so many other young people who were all environmentally/ecologically minded.
• What you miss least about the REU program: Working in the bog (Tom Swamp) by myself. I enjoyed my project but it was difficult doing it solo.
• What about the REU program has stuck with you: So many things - the people, the beauty of Harvard Forest, the knowledge that if I could do that project by myself then I can do anything.
• Have you stayed in touch with other REU students?: Yes, several.
• Whether your REU experience supported or changed your career plans: Supported, as I was already an environmental studies major with a GIS focus.
• What you're up to now: I'm currently in grad school at Duke University doing my PhD in tropical climatology with a focus on the South American/Caribbean region.