Shenandoah Student Gains Invaluable Experience Through Toucan Education

When Sophie Koutalakis ’26 first considered Shenandoah University, it was as a potential Shenandoah Conservatory student. But, as her high school career progressed and she traveled more, she realized how much she wanted to protect and conserve the environment for future generations. 

“It was like a complete 180,” she said. “I went from being mostly in the arts – I was terrified of math and science. And, then, all of a sudden, I was like super excited to just do anything with ecology or environmental science.”

Discovering Toucan

Instead of heading to the conservatory, Koutalakis decided to major in environmental and sustainability studies and minor in Spanish. She continued to travel, going to Spain for her First-Year Seminar class (co-taught by university President Tracy Fitzsimmons, Ph.D., and Executive Director of Global Education Bethany Galipeau-Konate, D.Prof.), as well as to Tanzania as part of the university’s Global Citizenship Project.

She also decided to earn a certificate in sustainable business, which ultimately led her to a summer internship in Belize through Shenandoah’s unique relationship with Toucan Education Programs. Through this partnership, in which Shenandoah is Toucan’s School of Record, students can earn academic credit in courses offered by and delivered at Toucan.

She first connected with Toucan during a January Term trip for a sustainable business course. When she returned home, she explored Toucan’s other options and applied for an internship with the group, which benefits not only students but also Belizian initiatives. “I think they were so excited that I enjoyed the trip so much that they immediately got back to me and we started working from there to get me an internship in Belize.”

More research, more travel in store

Koutalakis earned six credits for her internship with Friends for Conservation and Development (FCD) in the western part of Belize. “I monitored camera traps for small-to-medium mammals to monitor biodiversity in Chiquibul National Park. And I also helped with their benthic macroinvertebrate assessments,” she said. Benthic macroinvertebrates are essentially tiny bugs that are very good indicators of stream health. Toucan connected her with a host family in a village, as well. There, she felt fully immersed in Belize’s widely diverse culture. 

She enjoyed the work in Belize so much that she’s now engaged in a project on benthic macroinvertebrates with Assistant Professor of Environment and Sustainability Darrin Hunt, Ph.D., focusing on Winchester-area bodies of water. Additionally, she’s doing independent study on ecotourism in Tanzania. 

And, upon graduation, she hopes to travel even more as she continues her sustainability studies abroad. Koutalakis is applying to graduate programs in Canada and New Zealand.