Teaching Ecology in Jordan

Jordan is the land of endless opportunities for ecological studies, at least that is what I believe. Jordan is known of harboring a very high biodiversity in both, fauna and flora relative to its small size. Its location, have shaped its biodiversity by having several endemic species, and many resemble either the most southerly or the most northerly distribution of the species worldwide. One reason to explain such high diversity, is that Jordan is in the middle between Asia and Africa, close to Europe. Further, Jordan have a very high geographic heterogeneity, from the lowest point on earth; the Dead Sea at -400 m below the sea level, to the Sand dune desert. That is why being I feel blessed to be in Jordan, close to such unlimited research opportunities on all level of ecological studies.

So, once I landed in Jordan, I started putting together a rough plan on how to lunch a research program in ecology. This plan aimed at furnishing a lab, attracting students, and of course securing some funding for long term research. Soon after I arrived I found that funding research in Jordan is not a big of a problem, rather it can be done easily. However, problems arose after that

First, the high biodiversity in Jordan was not paralleled with high students' interest. Along with the enthusiasm that I have for ecological research in Jordan, I had a rosy imagination on how easy it would be to recruit students for ecological research. Not until I started teaching ecology for the undergraduate level in Sep. 2015 in Jordan. First impression raised many concerns, dismay and frustration; students had zero interest in ecology. It was difficult to get students interested and engaged, so my goal shifted from teaching them the specifics to the least is having them acknowledge nature, the rights of Jordan's other inhabitants, and of course make them see representatives of Jordan's unique fauna and flora. With that I lost faith in recruiting any student....

But, not long until I realized that I was completely wrong.

It was the day that I decided to take them in walk on the mountains surroundings the campus. It was a long walk across two mountains. We crossed the first mountain, so I had to stop and ask: shall we continue? the overwhelming enthusiasm  of : SURE WE HAVE TO, shocked me. Students were never aware of this part of the campus, never knew that the university extend to such territories. It was a complete surprise to them that the university have what they have seen from birds, plants and reptiles. We crossed the second mountain, however, while we were walking my assistant spoke of a dam. At first it was very hard to convince students that a dam could exist in the university. We explained to them that it is a dam, but not like a fully functional dam they often see in movies. It is a small dam in the desert to hold some rain water for wild animals to drink, and for any livestock that would pass by the area. Seeing the dam was an intriguing idea for them, as if the dam word re-energized them. so we continued our walk, like after a full hour and half we reached the dam... and students were in denial that their university does extend this far, hold this much of biodiversity, and of course have a dam.

                                        

these two photos were for the first lab session, could not locate pictures of the second lab.

Bottom line, students interest in ecology is there, they really do love the environment, and my very first assessment was kind of wrong.
 Moral of the story: find a way to spark that interest in students, then you will be surprised.

Now I respect my students for the motivation, interest and concern about the environment.