Thursday, December 20: Final Thoughts

Mayu Aliva
Our last day! And so much has been achieved: new friendships, renewed commitments, revealing learning, unforgettable hands on experiences.

We all feel so proud to work in an institution that stands for the values and beliefs that motivate us on, that allow us to serve others and strive to make a difference in bettering the lives of those in the communities we serve. HSBC’s five year Climate Partnership will bring out the best in our stakeholders: shareholders, employees, clients, suppliers and all those others related to us.

Earthwatch Institute and the Smithsonian have greatly contributed to a tremendous 10 days in which we have been able to understand the most dramatic impact of this century, climate change, as our Chairman Stephen Green stated it, but most important, they have contributed in guiding us in concrete actions we will do our best to implement throughout LAM in order to contribute to making this a better world.

Wednesday, December 19: Day 10

Emperatriz Mayorga
Hola!!!!
Estamos casi por finalizar la semana, y ha sido una impresionante semana!!!!
Hemos entendido de mejor manera los aspectos relacionados al cambio climatico, es decir nuestro conocimiento se ha incrementado, y tambien hemos aprendido lo detallista que es una investigacion como la que esta desarrollando el Smithsonian Institute. Requiere de paciencia la observacion de los arboles y el comportamiento del bosque; y nos ha surgido la pregunta si tenemos suficiente tiempo para seguir investigando. Adicionalmente, estamos entusiasmados por llegar a poner en practica lo aprendido, la conclusion de todos es que proyectos visibles puden ayudar a cambiar las formas pensar y de actuar de nuestros companeros de trabajo y nuestra comunidad.

Valeria Vivani

Today we did a different task compared with the previous days: we measured dead trees. After that, we had a very beautiful walk around the river. It was a great day!

José Flores
Today in the morning we went to measure trees again, but it was so different because we measured dead trees, I think it is the most difficult, but it is nice too. In the afternoon we went to a nice place at SERC, we saw the river and some ducks, also we saw the sun when it was setting, which was wonderful.

At night we had our session 8, “From Visioning to Vision Statement”, and we talked about the importance of the Climate Champions to HSBC. Also we talked about some issues of the Climate Champions, what motivates us to participate, What difference that we want to make, to HSBC, to our self, to our clients, to the world.

But right now, I have to go bed, because tomorrow at morning we will have a presentation about the movie An Inconvenient Truth.

Tuesday, December 18: Day 9

José Flores

Today is the second day in this week, I got up at 6:45 am and went with Lizbeth to do exercise, she went running and I was on the bike, we came back to the dorms at 7:30 am. At 9:00 am, we had a presentation about Mangroves, it was very interesting because we learned a lot about this issue, my partner Brian is a expert in this issue. After eat lunch, we went again to measure trees at the field, today I participated with Kim and Brian, I think we did a good job.

In the evening, Kim gave us a presentation about The HSBC Climate Partnership and employee engagement journey. Everybody participated with our experiences in each one of our countries. Finally, Shelby asked us about the participation of ONG’s in each one of our countries for local volunteering projects, and we had a brainstorm about the issue.

Is time for bed, see you tomorrow.

Monday, December 17: Day 8

Briant Dominici
The special cold clothes were not enough, as the cold wind felt like a knife cutting through our skin…but we reached the top! These towers are used for science, so have devices to measure wind, CO2, temperature, rain, light, etc. Astonishing is the best word to describe the view from up there. The day was sunny and beautiful in appearance, but the strong winds made it difficult for us to work on the field.

Yes, we did measure trees again, but also performed a new task: litter collection from the buckets located strategically within the different plots. The contents of the buckets will reveal to Dr. Parker which tree is contributing in what proportion to the soil’s leafs coverage. This is very important to understand as it is a piece of the CO2 puzzle. It was very nice to find our that one of my college professors back in the 80’s in Panama was Dr. Parker’s classmate some years before.

I had another new experience today: I finally went inside room 210 in our dorm. And yes! It is the laundry room. I went in there because Catalina offered to wash my towel. Otherwise that would still be an unknown territory for me, since I brought 12 of everything (everything but towels) in order to avoid having to wash any clothes. I am not ashamed to accept that I am not the “house keeping type”, but in my defense I must say that on the field, I try as much as I can to help all the groups with the difficult tasks encountered and also have been translating for a lot of people. So, it is a trade. Of course I would have helped all the groups with everything they needed anyway, but this is something they do not need to know :) Catalina and Valeria keep feeding me. It doesn’t matter if it is here or at a restaurant; they make sure that I get well feed and I love them for that.

So room 210 is off limits again (I just went in for the last time and got my clean towel).

It is late and I’m going to bed. Think I’m gonna dream about the view from the tower…


José Flores
Yesterday we went to Washington DC, we visited three museums of the Smithsonians, The Smithsonian Castle, The National Museum of Natural History and The Donald W. Reynolds Center (the third major government building constructed in the fledgling U.S. capital (after the White House and the Capitol Building). It was a very interesting tour.

Also we went to eat dinner to Café Atlantico, a very good restaurant in the Downtown of Washington. The Smithsonian is a very good host.

Today in the morning we went to the plots to collect the leaves that are inside the buckets of the CI1 and CI2 plots. There were a few leaves.

After lunch, we went to a tower where the scientists take data of the temperature, the air direction, mediation of CO2 and the weather. Was a great experience. At night we had a presentation about the HSBC Climate Partnership by Kim.

Sunday, December 16: Day 7

Valeria Vivani
Today was a great day. It was our free day! We visited Washington DC with people from the Smithsonian Institute for Tropical Research. We enjoyed a tour around the Natural History Museum, we had lunch all together, and I visited the Indian American Museum (while other people were watching a movie about sea creatures at the Natural History Museum). By the evening, we had dinner at Café Atlantico and we visited the main monuments. Thank you very much to the people from the Smithsonian Institute for such as wonderful gift!

Saturday, December 15: Day 6

José Flores
Today in the morning, we went to work to the field at 8:45. Today our team Shelby, Clarissa and I (the best team), made a good and fast job, we finished 4 parts of a plot (10 by 10 meters each ). Today was the last day working with Alana (Earthwatch staff), because she went back to Massachusetts with her family. We will miss her.

In the afternoon we went to shopping to a great mall, and later we ate dinner in a good restaurant. We spend a good time eating very good food. I never was eating that kind of food.
I am so happy to stay here with people of other country’s learning and working for a good cause, to help our environment.

Friday, December 14: Day 5

José Flores
Today was a great day, primarily because we went to the field by the morning and we finished the first plot. Also today we saw the sun and the weather was very good for job in the field.

At noon we have a party with the employees of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. Was a great party, because we shared with people who work in the SERC, and we knew the culture of this country. Our partner Mayu, participated in the party, with a beautiful song.

In the afternoon I took a ride in bicycle for all the areas around the SERC. At 6:00 pm we had a good presentation of the HSBC Climate Partnership by Mayu.

Briant Domenici
Today we finished measuring the trees of all the remaining parcels of the plot. This is a special day because the afternoon is free due to SERC’s Christmas party (lunch party I should say). Regarding the food, there were the two main factors that must always be present: abundance and supreme taste!

I feel almost guilty for this satisfaction sensation for finishing the plot, but then I realize that nothing is done yet. Again I start thinking and come to the conclusion that in this fight, we need to celebrate and be proud of the small victories, the small accomplishments; but this must not interfere with our commitment to the main task…

If we want to succeed in this climate change challenge, we must work together and we must do it fast, taking one task at the time, each individual in its own field.

Today’s data will help Dr. Parker to find out about each three species role and behavior in the complicated intake and outtake cycle of Carbon; ultimately this will enable proper forest management aiming to suppress the global warming.

Wednesday, December 12: Day 3

Briant Domenici
Today I made the best possible deal: I traded my English speaking capabilities and my previous biology and field knowledge for not having to cook meals… Now Valeria and Catalina will cook for me the rest of the project :)

Maybe a trade is the key here… can we make a trade with the Earth? Can we stop producing this excess amount of CO2 and in exchange the Earth can allow us (Homo sapiens sapiens) to live in it a little longer? Can we keep our part of the deal (if we get to do the deal). I’m sure the Earth would comply with its part. So it is up to us!

Today we took data on all the trees located in the pre-set parcels. All this data will then translate into information that can be compared with information from all over the world. What we are doing here is very important; it is the first step toward producing what is needed to alert the world of the global warming reality… I believe we have to keep trying.

Tuesday, December 11: Day 2

Briant Domenici
Today, in preparation for the days to come, we practiced using the compass and it was interesting to find out how many versions of 120 degrees we managed to find; in other words, what we found out is that in this type of research there is nothing 100% accurate. Nevertheless we all became aware of the fact that WE (humans) are producing levels of CO2 NEVER seen before in the atmosphere and CO2 is the main contributor that prevents the heat (taken from the Sun) to be released into the open space. CO2 is actually one of the reasons why the Earth is the only planet in our Solar System that supports life.

The problem is that these increased levels of CO2 are causing the Earth temperature to increase at an accelerated pace and this will have catastrophic consequences.

It is true that the Earth had cycles of heat and cold in the past, but these cycles were 100% natural. Now human activities are interfering with these cycles and we are here with the task of understanding a little more of how, the forest – human interaction actually affects the CO2 and consequently, the climate.

Can we as a species really make a difference to revert this trend? I do not have the answer, but I know this: WE MUST TRY!

Monday, December 10: Day 1 - Team Two

José Flores
Hola mi nombre es Jose Flores y yo vengo de Cd. Juarez, Chih. Mexico. Ayer llegue a Baltimore a la media noche, vole del Paso Texas a Dallas y estuve 6 horas en el aeropuerto de Dallas, ya que mi vuelo se retraso 2 horas. La ciudad de Baltimore es muy bonita, el dia de hoy estuvo nublado y con algo de niebla. Por la manana conoci a una parte de mis companeros que van a estar conmigo estos 12 dias compartiendo esta gran oportunidad que nos da HSBC de conocer mas acerca del cambio climatico y contribuir con nuestro granito de arena. El dia de hoy nos dedicamos a conocernos mejor entre nosotros y platicar sobre nuestras expectativas en este viaje. Mis expectativas son muy amplias, aprender todo lo relativo al cambio climatico para compartirlo con mis colegas y familia en Mexico. Creo que este equipo es maravilloso, ya que somos personas de diferentes paises y culturas, compartiendo un mismo fin, contribuir a mejorar nuestro medio ambiente y evitar en la medida de lo posible el cambio climatico.


Valeria Vivani
Hi. This is Valeria from HSBC Argentina. This was our first day, meeting all of the HSBC colleagues and Earthwatch staff. We gathered all of our expectations and desires in common and we promised each other to have a great time together. SERC is a beautiful place!