Academics and Adventures: Exploring Tropical Islands with Students with Hinrich Kaiser

Hinrich Kaiser was born and raised in Europe, where it was easy to cross borders and learn about other countries. Early in his career as a biology professor, he realized that almost all of his students lived in a huge and diverse country with almost no direct exposure to what lies beyond its borders. His idea to combine hands-on biology learning with a strong dose of international culture and history first bore fruit in trips to islands in Honduras. Since then, he has provided amazing experiences for his community college students in 17 countries on three continents. His presentation tonight explores his motivation for creating trips for students, explains some of the logistics involved when planning research-oriented trips, and features a few entertaining stories from student explorations in Timor-Leste and Madagascar.
Hinrich Keiser is a German-born explorer and zoologist whose career blends scientific research with global field experience. Inspired early by Arctic exploration, he earned a PhD in Zoology & Animal Biology from McGill University, and built a career studying biodiversity, particularly amphibians, through extensive fieldwork across the Caribbean, South America, and Southeast Asia. He secured his first teaching position at La Sierra University and is currently a professor at Victor Valley College. Widely published and active in leadership roles within herpetology organizations, he is affiliated with institutions, including the Smithsonian as a Research Associate, and is the Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed open-access journal Herpetology Notes and serves as a member of the Executive Committees of the World Congress of Herpetology and the pan-European herpetology organization Societas Europaea Herpetologica. An Explorers Club fellow, Hinrich continues advancing conservation, education, and efforts to combat taxonomic vandalism while mentoring future explorers.

This program was organized by Reymundo Perez #1219.