The crystal clear waters of Lake Malawi glisten as students scuba dive, observing the small, colorful cichlids. However, they came for more than just to admire the underwater beauty. For most high schoolers, summer expeditions contain sightseeing and relaxing, but for these students, learning new research skills take the forefront.

Over the summer, fourteen students, chaperoned by science teachers John Savage and Marna Chamberlain, travelled to Tanzania and Malawi to learn science research skills and experience new cultures, Savage said.

First, they went to a village in Tanzania where they spent a week studying Limnology, or lake studies, said Chamberlain.

“The kids measured the length of the lake and tried to measure the depth,” she said. “There’s no data on this lake at all so they were working with a professor from Britain to study the geology of the Lake. They also were determining temperature and other characteristics.”

Next, they traveled to Cotta Bay off of Lake Malawi, the most diverse freshwater lake in the world, and studied cichlids, a variety freshwater fish, for the second week of their trip. Lake Malawi was an especially interesting place to study because of the immense amount of speciation occurring caused by the Lake’s diversity and constant evolution, Chamberlain said.

“I learned a lot about the cichlids in Lake Malawi that we were diving with, like how their populations worked,” junior James Manolis said.

Working in pairs, the students learned how to identify fish, measure how many fish are at each depth and write down this data underwater. They experienced being out in the field and learned how to travel along the way, Chamberlain said.

“I think the students got a lot out of the trip,” Savage said. “The students did not only gain real hard science skills but they gained a huge amount of experience with traveling internationally.”

The students encountered unfamiliar conditions during the first week, living forty-five minutes away from a paved road and with no electricity or running water, Savage said.

“To really understand the differences and the inequity of resources was pretty big deal for them,” Chamberlain said. “Even just driving down a road that has like a bazillion holes in it. It just made it more real to them instead of just reading about it or seeing it in a movie.”

However, the students adapted quickly and even played hacky sack with the local children every day, discovering ways to penetrate the language barrier, Chamberlain said.

“Even though the trip was structured on science, I really enjoyed the cultural aspect,” Manolis said.

Immersing oneself in a different culture with distinct customs and foods was extremely rewarding, Manolis said.

“I know that some of the students on the trip are most likely not going to go major in a field of research science or be near science at all, ” Savage said. “But the experiences they had learning how to travel, learning how to be independent on their own in a foreign country where not many people speak their language, that for me was one of the most rewarding aspects of the trip.”

All of the students eagerly approached new experiences throughout the whole trip, Savage said.

“I love travel and I love science but seeing these students willing to do the same thing was wonderful,” Savage said.