11 – Scott I.

Hi I’m Scott and I am currently a freshman studying computer science engineering. I am from Port Huron, Michigan. I love to play soccer, go skiing, and wake board in my free time. While I am in Australia, I cant wait to visit the great barrier reef and also see the amazing city of Sydney! For this trip, I hope to learn more about the culture and perspectives the Country has to offer relating to sustainability as well!

While in Australia, I am researching the negative and positive environmental impact that tourism plays on the surrounding ecosystems. Australia is known for the Great Barrier reef, the outback, and its rain forests, but many don’t see it as a home to hundreds of thousands of species. This can lead to pollution and other factors that have a chain reaction effect. A great example is with the great barrier reef. Studies have show the reef wont survive past 2050 due to pollution, climate change , and most of all tourism(white,2017). With sites that we are planning to visit, such as the Mabi Rain forest, I hope to explore and get a better understanding of how much of an impact these factors have had on its biodiversity and ecosystems. I also will want to see what people are doing from a ecotourism standpoint to prevent developing situations around these unique environments.

(n.d.). Retrieved from https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/trade_environment/photo/haustralia.html

The Great Barrier Reef. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://tourismimpacts.weebly.com/the-great-barrier-reef.html
https://tourismimpacts.weebly.com/the-great-barrier-reef.html

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/great-barrier-reef-tourism-die/index.html Will the White, Jonathan Great Barrier Reef die by 2050? (2017, July 12). Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/great-barrier-reef-tourism-die/index.html

Findings

Over the course of the four weeks while we were in Australia I was able to gather a ton of primary data. This was mainly in the middle two weeks when I gathered most my ideas and data by interviewing people. First I interviewed a source from project warrnambool, who showed me the impact that tourist have had on the an island that is seasonally inhabited by penguins. Then next I interviewed Nick Sheahan who showed our group the Hattah lakes Project. The talk with him helped me explore the long term effect that tourism played in the national park. And finally I interviewed Julie Carmody who taught us about the Great barrier reef. Lots of details went into the reef and helped me explore the effects that tourism plays around the reef from social media to current policies and regulations. All my research led me to conclude that we need to be extremely continence of our decisions if its from developing regulations to saving penguins the long term effects always can come back around and hurt us. Its has been experienced by many people in Australia and we will keep on having to learn from our mistakes! I had a great time on this trip and it was a amazing experience. I hope to do something like this in the future!

A part of the Great Barrier Reef

Australian Government. (2019, June 20). Australian Demographic Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/mf/3101.0

Warden, J. (n.d.). Australian Tourism Statistics 2019: Travel Research & Statistics – Budget Direct™. Retrieved from https://www.budgetdirect.com.au/travel-insurance/research/tourism-statistics.html

Lee, J. (n.d.). Australia: Biodiversity Conservation and Ecotourism. Retrieved from https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/trade_environment/photo/haustralia.html

Vardy, H.(2015, August 31) The Great Barrier Reef.. Retrieved from https://tourismimpacts.weebly.com/the-great-barrier-reef.html

Abitbol, C. (2017, July 12). Will the Great Barrier Reef die by 2050? Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/great-barrier-reef-tourism-die/index.html

 Alex. (2015, June 03). World Top Ten Most Affected Places by Global Warming. Retrieved from http://www.toptenfindings.com/world-top-ten-most-affected-places-by-global-warming/

Patterson, B. (2015, March 19). Australia’s Farmers Challenged by Climate Change. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/australia-s-farmers-challenged-by-climate-change/

Anderson, A. (2018, December 06). Climate change, tourism and the Great Barrier Reef: What we know. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/climate-change-tourism-and-the-great-barrier-reef-what-we-know-60108

Matford, A. (2019). Environment & Climate Change Law 2019: Australia: ICLG. Retrieved from https://iclg.com/practice-areas/environment-and-climate-change-laws-and-regulations/australia

Australian Government. (2017, August 07). Growth in tourism a shining light for Australia. Retrieved from https://dfat.gov.au/about-us/publications/trade-investment/business-envoy/Pages/august-2017/growth-in-tourism-a-shining-light-for-australia.aspx