The Spring 2007 SEEDS student field trip was held June 1-8 in Chiapas, Mexico, highlighting the research of ecologists at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) on the campus of San Cristóbal de Las Casas. Twenty two participants from across the US spent an unforgettable week traveling a great portion of the biologically and culturally diverse southernmost state of Mexico. The goal of the field trip was the same as all SEEDS activities – to encourage and support a widely diverse group of students to become ecologists and offer their rich perspectives to the profession. Eight ecologists of ECOSUR and over 30 community members from across the state of Chiapas volunteered their time to help SEEDS plan and carry out the field trip. They helped us exceed our goal of stimulating student interest in ecology by offering such a unique perspective on ecology in a region where land is so precious as to have started a revolution over a decade ago. The striking difference of the Chiapas field trip compared to our 10 prior SEEDS field trips was the level of involvement from the farmers, ranchers, and communities where the ecological research is being done.

The theme of the SEEDS Chiapas field trip was "Forest and agroforest landscape transformation in southern Mexico: consequences for biodiversity, conservation, and rural livelihoods." All pieces of this theme were well illustrated during the week, and the rural livelihoods component especially resonated with the students because it was so new to their understanding of the broad implications of ecology. Community participation is essential to the ecology of Chiapas, and thus we heard about the ever-present Zapatista revolution many times during the week. Indeed, students saw first-hand the revolutionary spirit in Chiapas after being held for over two hours in the airport because of a taxi driver protest, but that is another story. Traveling time to field sites was much more extensive than prior field trips because ECOSUR ecologists’ research is statewide rather than field-station focused. Students learned about:

• Chiapas natural history and cloud forest ecology from Mario González Espinosa in the community of Merced-Bazom;
• Landscape ecology and bird diversity in Chiapas from José Luís Rangel Salazar, Paula Enríquez Rocha, and Roberto Gómez from the community of San Juan Chamula in a small ecological reserve of Huitepec;
• How to conduct an agroecological investigation with a Spanish speaking ECOSUR agroecology class on the presence of trees in an organic farm with Helda Morales, Stewart Diemont, and Jose Luis Rangel Salazar where results were presented in the universal language of actions and pictures;
• An in-depth description of the origin and ongoing conflicts of the Zapatista movement from Gerardo González;
• The organic food cooperative movement in Mexico from Laura Saldivar Tanaka;
• Shade grown, bird friendly coffee fincas and a comparison of traditional coffee production in San Cayetano with organic coffee growing near Simojovel with research assistants Angel Alvarez, Simona Landi, and Isidro Pérez Pérez;
• The coffee cooperative of CIRSA (Cooperativa Indigena de la Región de Simojovel de Allende) – the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of this major world export item from the board of directors of the cooperative;
• The Women’s artisan cooperatives of OMIRSI (Organización de Mujeres Indígenas de la Región de Simojovel) – the action of rural women to join forces and generate income for their families;
• Sustainable agriculture of coffee and litchee fruits, and subsistence farming from the community cooperative of Nueve Horizonte from Martín López Hernández;
• The efforts in establishing ecotourism cooperative in the community of Las Nubes from Emelio Geronomio;
• Tropical birds and landscapes, bird netting and release from José Luís Rangel Salazar and Jorge Martínez;
• Sustainable cattle ranching and organic milk production at Rancho Bonanza in Valles Centrales with Bruce Ferguson, Rigoberto Alfaro and Adrián Castillejos Constantino.

The week’s theme was further supported by the way the group walked the walk in Chiapas. Each meal created almost no waste - students were kept busy washing plates and refilling water bottles, and almost all food was a product of organic agriculture. We experienced ecology in its broadest sense during the SEEDS Chiapas field trip. We experienced communities and families. We experienced excellent examples of sustainability from people that had few material things, but a rich quality of life for which they had fought hard. We experienced a short bridge between ecology and communities and a great valuing of traditional ecological knowledge in science. We experienced an amazing adventure over a large portion of Chiapas with breathtaking views and thoughtful lessons that students have promised to share; they wrote and illustrated over 30 pages of a group report, they are contributing to the ESA web site blog; and are working on a collaborative article about their experience. Above all, we experienced an ecology of hope and promise with a profound responsibility to contribute to positive solutions for the future. We are grateful for the help and hours volunteered from the ecologists at ECOSUR and the gracious welcomes we received from each of the communities we visited. We also thank the three SEEDS Chapter faculty advisors, Joe Fail, Elvia Meléndez-Ackerman, and Alex Sloan, who attended the field trip and helped students process their experience until late into the night.