Africa Selection Camp – Day 4

Blog written by Trevor Dougherty of University of Carolina (UNC Chapel Hill):

Today was an eventful and exciting day, just like every other day at the PANGEA Young Explorers Program Africa Expedition Selection Camp! From fitness tests to a seminar on sharks, we have been very busy.

We traveled to a sports field in Chateau-d’Oex to finish our physical fitness tests with specialists from the Mayo Clinic. The Cooper Test was a big challenge for all of us, as we had to run as far as we possibly could in 12 minutes. For this we ran laps around a small football field. We also did other tests like push ups, single-leg balance, and squats. While we were glad to be finished with the tests, we have had a great time with the Mayo Clinic doctors and we will miss them when they leave us later this week.

Another highlight of the day was Nic “Moose” Good’s workshop on video production. He taught us the basics of working with video cameras, including several of the clever tricks used by the PANGAEA media team. He also gave us a special video assignment that we will all be working on in the next few days …stay tuned!

Finally, Young Explorers Program coordinator Michael Scholl gave us a detailed presentation about sharks. He gave us a colorful background on the biology and evolution of these animals, and told us all about the global problem of shark finning. It was truly inspiring to hear about all the research and conservation work that Mr. Scholl has done as a shark scientist, including the discovery of an adventurous shark named Nicole.

Now we are all exhausted, but we must get to sleep fast because another big day awaits us tomorrow. We’re going to Lausanne for a sail on Lake Geneva.

There is so much enthusiasm here at the Mike Horn Expedition Center Headquarters. We hope you can feel it from wherever you are reading this!

-Trevor