Upper Dublin High School Senior Gets Surprise Trip To Galapagos
Zoe Oliveras, a senior at Upper Dublin High School and student at Eastern Center for Arts & Tech., got a surprise trip from grandmom.
UPPER DUBLIN, PA — A local high school senior and budding environmentalist is reflecting on a surprise trip she received this summer to the Galapagos Islands and Ecuador, which was given to her by her grandmother.
Zoe Oliveras, who is a senior at Upper Dublin High School and also studies veterinary sciences at the Eastern Center for Arts and Technology, was surprised with the National Geographic Student Expedition by her grandmother in honor of Oliveras' 16th birthday, according to Eastern.
The trip took place from June 19 to July 3.
During her overseas venture, Oliveras studied native wildlife, worked with community conservationists and marine biologists, and took part in a climate action and ecosystem restoration service project, according to a news release from Eastern.
"The experiences I have gained from this trip and from the ecosystem restoration project have made me realize how important it is to keeping helping make the environment healthier, and to try to do our very best not to destroy the ecosystem any further," Oliveras said in a statement.
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Oliveras and her fellow trip-goers dug up bush and tree saplings from the Paramo Forest during the ecosystem restoration project, and they took sapling roots to a nursery to be grown over the winter, according to Eastern. The saplings will ultimately be replanted into another part of the forest.
Eastern says that Oliveras documented her trip experience in a report for her graduation project at Upper Dublin High School.
The surprise trip helped Oliveras narrow down her postsecondary major to marine science, according to Eastern, and while in the Galapagos she had a chance to study giant tortoises, equatorial penguins, marine iguanas and blue-footed boobies (a close relative of Pelicans).
Oliveras was also able to learn about the fragile ecosystem in the Galapagos.
In addition to her study of veterinary science at her program at Eastern, Oliveras has also volunteered as a teen conservation ambassador at the Philadelphia Zoo, and she has worked a part-time job at the North Penn Animal Hospital.
Eastern Center for Arts and Technology serves students in Abington, Bryn Athyn, Cheltenham, Hatboro-Horsham, Jenkintown, Lower Moreland, Springfield, Upper Dublin and Upper Moreland. The campus is based in Willow Grove.
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