那些年我做过的大学课题研究

洞穴中的蝙蝠

　　My first experience of organising a team was on a small tropical island south east of Sulawesi. I was gathering data for my university dissertation whilst studying Zoology at the university of Leeds in the UK. My subject was the roosting habits of a small insectivorous bat called Kerivoula papillosa, or the papillose woolly bat.

　　I was inexperienced in both scientific research and the dynamics of organising a team. First we would capture the bats using specially designed harp traps (leaving the traps over night), the following morning we would examine the traps to see if we had captured any bats (normally each trap would capture one or two).

　　When we found a bat of the right species, we would shave a small section of wool away from its back, attach a small radio transmitter to the shaved area using glue and then release it so it could return to its roost. Later that day we would use a radio tracker to try and locate the bat’s signal and therefore its natural habitat. The bats roosted in small groups in holes in trees. Once we thought we had located a bat roost we would have to come out before dusk and wait to see if any bats emerged from the hole.

　　When a roost was confirmed we would have to go through the laborious task of measuring the height of the tree and the height of the hole. We would then have to locate a large number of other trees with holes in the area and then obtain measurements for these trees as well. By comparing the details of 10 located roosts with a sample of 100 trees located at random we were able to ascertain that there was a statistical difference between the roost trees and the trees from the random sample.

　　The process of gathering data took about seven weeks. Every week a new group of volunteers would arrive and I would have to brief them on the process. Sometimes the team would be poorly motivated as they were mostly hoping for holiday in the Indonesian rainforest rather than a week of measuring the heights of trees. It was very stressful at times but I would still say the whole experience was worth it for the following reasons:

　　I gained valuable experience in organising a team; this is something that is still of great use when writing my CV over a decade later.

　　University tutors are more likely to recognise the difficulties of a self-organised dissertation when marking and this will result in a greater dissertation score.

　　It was my first travelling experience and one that continues to inspire me as I progress through my career in international education.

　　If you get the opportunity to carry out a practical investigation for you university dissertation I would definitely recommend taking that opportunity. The sciences do not offer the only chance to do so. Arts and humanities offer a chance to study internationally as well. Doing so may greatly increase your chances of obtaining a good grade and your future job prospects.