Results, Discussion, Conclusions
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For the last month, I have been fully immersed in science-world as I have worked on my final research project and paper. Now, my project is done: paper submitted and presentation given. Like many SIT students, I would say that this project has been one of the most impactful “classes” I’ve ever taken. I learned a ton about pollinators, the characteristics of mutualistic networks, how to interpret and compare network-level indices, field sampling methods, coding in R, and reading and writing scientific literature. However, unlike some of my cohort, I don’t envision myself going into full-time research. Because of this, although I’m grateful for the skills and information I learned in this project, the most valuable findings aren’t what I wrote about in my final paper.
Instead, what I gained most happened behind the scenes, through the process of planning, living, and presenting this project. If you’re interested, you can go and read the results of my study, “Pollinator Networks in Ecosystem Edges: Structural Differences and the Role of Vegetation Characteristics in the Ecuadorian Chocó,” in a few weeks when it’s published in the SIT collection. Here, I’ll be sharing the second set of findings: the more personal ones. Since my brain has now been fully indoctrinated into the format of a scientific paper, that’s what we’re going to do here. So, bear with me as we shift to third-person-passive tense, must cite every other sentence, and things in general get a little more boring … all for the sake of science, of course :).
Introduction
One of the key components of SIT study abroad programs is a final independent research project. These projects, which are commonly known as an ISP (Independent Study Project), come at the end of the study abroad semester and are designed to give students an opportunity to apply the content of the semester in a hands-on, real-world setting (“How We’re Different,” n.d.). In fact, a main focus of the classes of the study abroad semester is to prepare students for this project, which serves as a capstone. Previous student experiences have attested to the value of these independent studies. Specifically, ISP projects have been seen to prepare students for future careers, even leading to job offers and Fulbright scholarships (Carlia Lopez, personal communication, May 2025; “How We’re Different,” n.d.). In the Ecuador: Comparative Ecology and Conservation program, the ISP takes place during the last month of the semester. With the guidance of professors, students choose a research question, for which they then design a study that is to be carried out over the course of one month. Depending on the focus of their project, students move to a separate project site, often with two to three other students. These ISPs are particularly valuable as they give students the opportunity to conduct research in the highly biodiverse ecosystems of Ecuador alongside professional scientists in their respective fields (Ecuador: Comparative Ecology and Conservation, 2025). Although the scientific findings of these ISP projects have been well documented (Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection, 2024), little focus has been given to the personal experiences of SIT students. In order to bridge this gap, this blog post will focus on the personal reflections of one student, Megan Kamper, in her ISP project. Specifically, this post seeks to answer the following question: How has Megan’s ISP facilitated personal growth and learning beyond the academic topics of the project?
Through exploring this question, this post will provide not only an opportunity for reflection for the author, but also aims to facilitate conversations around the personal impacts of learning experiences such as the ISP.
Methods
Project Site
Megan’s ISP was conducted in the town of Villaflora in the Río Manduriacu valley in Cotacachi Canton, Imbabura Province, Ecuador. Sampling occurred in nine sites spanning three habitat types (roads, river, and forest edge), but learning and project reflections took place at varying locations, including the big rocks by the river, the road, Megan’s kitchen table, and Laura Kate’s front porch.
Data collection
Data collection took place between April 12 and May 8, 2025. During this time period, reflections and personal growth were continuous, resulting in over 600 hours of sampling time, including sleeping. During this time, Megan experienced many new things and encountered many challenges, both directly and indirectly related to her project. These challenges and experiences were continuously received and processed in the moment. Deeper-level processing took place during moments of silence during meals, conversations with friends and family, and prayer.
Data Analysis
Towards the end of the program, reflections were written down in a Google Doc. These bullet-point reflections were then organized into major themes.
Results + Discussion
Through the ISP project, many moments of challenge, practices in prioritizing values, and increases in self-awareness occurred. Of the myriad things that Megan learned, reflections can be organized into three major themes: work style, responding to challenges, and project success.
Work Style
“I operate best when I have a variety of different tasks I can do, and can order them depending on what I feel up for.”
“When I set defined time limits on my work, I’m pretty good at following them. Having these limits is healthy for me.”
“I like to feel like I am on top of my work, or even ahead of schedule.”
“I have a difficult time planning and managing when the possibilities are abundant and the work is intangible.”
“When I feel like I am behind schedule, or am not able to conceptualize the work I have to do, I easily become overwhelmed and stressed.”
“The thought of giving up my vision for success makes me feel afraid.”
Towards the beginning of her project, Megan’s stress levels were low (Figure 1). After the initial worries about moving to a new location and figuring out her project, Megan quickly became accustomed to living in Villaflora and settled into a comfortable rhythm working on her project. She found that she enjoyed the freedom of managing her own schedule: shifting from task to task throughout the day depending on favorable weather conditions for sampling and her own mood. The time limits that Megan set on her work were helpful, allowing her to let go of her project at the end of the day or week and rest. By the end of week 2, Megan was feeling good about her project (Figure 1). All was going smoothly, she had a plan for the next couple of days, and she felt that she might even be ahead of schedule.
However, a sharp increase in stress levels can be observed in week 3 (Figure 1). At the beginning of this week, Megan discovered that one, then another, of her sampling sites had been destroyed. The vegetation was unexpectedly cut down, preventing her from returning to observe pollinators for the second time, as was planned. In addition, her advisor had not responded to her weekend email asking to schedule a Google Meet to talk about statistical analysis. Meeting was even more imperative now, as she needed to plan for how to respond to this unexpected situation. To add to this, frequent power outages jeopardized her ability to meet with her advisor in the future and to do the necessary computer work for her project.
Stress levels took a dip during the next few days as the power came back on and Megan was able to continue with other parts of the project as she waited to hear back from her advisor (Figure 1). A meeting was scheduled for Wednesday.
As the meeting approached, stress levels again began to rise (Figure 1). Megan was no longer feeling on top of her project. In fact, she worried that she would not have time to be able to complete it, especially if she needed to replace research sites. Even more so, she was realizing that she did not have a good understanding of the statistical analysis she would be conducting. Meeting with her advisor resolved the first issue, as a decision was made not to seek additional research sites. However, the second worry intensified. Instead of clearing up her understanding of the statistical analysis, as Megan had hoped, her advisor described an entirely new way of analysing the data, which would involve reformatting the data as well as learning the new analysis method.
At this point, stress levels reached an all-time high (Figure 1). Megan felt overwhelmed by the scope of her project and the limited time available. However, she was resistant to the idea of trying to cut anything out.
Responding to Challenges
“I am equipped with health stress-management strategies, I know when and how to use them, and they generally work.”
“My fears may be powerful at the moment, but if I prop open the door of my heart, God can stick his fingers in and massage them out.”
“Things can be worthwhile even while being incomplete.”
During these high-stress days, Megan learned to draw on the stress-management strategies she had available. She took breaks, took care of her body, did the next right thing, respected the time limits she had set, expressed gratitude, talked to a friend, and most of all, gave her worries to God.
These strategies helped, and although Megan still experienced the stress, it felt manageable.
However, Megan still felt that, if she included everything she had planned, including the new analysis proposed by her advisor, her project would be beyond the scope of the time she had.
As she tried to give her worries to God, she felt a response asking her to look into her heart, evaluate her motivations, and reconsider what success on this project might look like.
Megan did not like this idea. She felt resistant to giving up her original plan, and feared communicating to her advisor that she wanted to drop aspects of the project. She wanted to close down and barrel ahead with business as usual. She wanted to feel like this project was complete, and she wanted others to think well of her.
But Megan had felt this “close my heart down” feeling before and knew that it wasn’t the solution. So, she promised to sit with the idea of saying “no” to some parts of her project. The Lord gently began to work away her resistance. Megan wrote an email to her advisor letting him know that she would not be using the method he had shown her, but would be taking a different route that was simpler and allowed her to better focus her time.
Project Success
“Having a focused goal is key to a project (planning activities, responding to changes, deciding priorities, defining success).”
“For anything really important, humans are not built to work alone (skills working together, accountability, social support, meaning).”
Facing these challenges also showed Megan some factors that play into the success of a project. First of all, she saw the importance of having a clearly defined project goal. It was when she felt like she didn’t understand the focus of her project that she felt the most stress. Returning to the main objective of the project allowed her to figure out a path forward.
Additionally, taking on this project mostly independently made her realize the value of working with a team. Everyone has different abilities, and she saw how this project could have been better with others to strengthen the areas that she tends to have a harder time with. Project co-workers would have helped keep the project on track and figure out how to respond to challenges. Most of all, she saw the importance of having other people for emotional support and giving the project meaning.
Conclusions
The results of this study can be summarized in the following conclusions:
Ecuador Lesson #10: I work best when I feel like I’m on track and can see the path ahead. Having a clearly defined goal is key to this.
Ecuador Lesson #11: When I get off track and start to feel stressed, I know how to respond. I can manage my stress in the moment with strategies I know, and by leaning on the people around me. Ultimately, listening to God is a good idea, even when I don’t like the sound of it at first.
(Two is one!!)
Future studies would benefit from an analysis of how these lessons will carry over into Megan’s life as she returns to Michigan.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Robin Wall-Kimmerer in her book Braiding Sweetgrass for giving me the idea of telling a story using the format of a scientific paper. I would also like to preemptively thank Becky from off-campus study for allowing me to post this ridiculously long blog :). On a more serious note, I am very grateful to my mom for teaching me health stress-management strategies, and my dad for his good example in prioritizing what is most important, and working smarter, not harder. Most of all, I am grateful to the Lord for giving me the truth that His success, not mine, is the most important, and for His words about not worrying about tomorrow, but taking things one day at a time.
¡Hasta Luego!
-Megan
Bibliography (in case you care)
How We’re Different. (n.d.). SIT Study Abroad. Retrieved May 17, 2025, from https://studyabroad.sit.edu/about/how-were-different/
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection | SIT Study Abroad | SIT Graduate Institute/SIT Study Abroad. (2024). SIT Study Abroad. https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/
Spring 2025: Ecuador: Comparative Ecology and Conservation. (2025). SIT Study Abroad. https://studyabroad.sit.edu/program/spring-2025-ecuador-comparative-ecology-and-conservation/
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