DANYAN: 
So for me, I definitely learned a lot about ecology and a lot of science, a lot of nature
— but you know, I also can have more experience of how to communicate or work in a group,
and also experience the different kind of culture in [the] west U.S.
LOMA:
You tend to lose track of what your passion is or what your interests are unless you constantly go out,
be exposed to nature: vistas, animals, landscapes,
and just see those interactions and then you — it kind of reminds you of why you chose this field in the first place
versus just sitting in a classroom or in front of a computer.
DANYAN:
We need to have a really good practice in real life.
If we cannot experience what kind of things we can do in the field,
then probably when we really get into this kind of career, we cannot really enjoy them.
LOMA:
When you meet other scientists in the field,
they can write letters of recommendation saying, "I have worked with this person,"
as opposed to, "They just did really well in my class."
DANYAN:
I think the value of doing science with people who work in the field is:
we get experience to know what is the real career life of wildlife conservation.
LOMA:
It's always great to see another person's perspective on something,
especially if they're an expert in their field.
You get to think about different things
that you could incorporate into your own research.
I'll still need a couple of days to fully digest everything that I've heard and seen,
but I can tell I got a lot out of this trip.
