Cora Funk | Fall 2024
Hello, or should I say G’Day Mate!
I am currently in Australia! My name is Cora Funk. I am a Biology major with a Spanish and Public Health minor. This Fall 2024 semester, I am participating in the study abroad exchange program with Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.
Studying abroad in Sydney has always been a dream of mine. I love big cities, and I am fascinated by all the amazing animals that live in Australia. Going into college, I knew that being a biology major and studying abroad does not always work together. Because of this, I wanted to ensure that I would have the opportunity to study abroad, and that is why I am studying abroad in my sophomore year.
Before I started my exchange program, I had the amazing opportunity to visit my brother, Alex, in Humpty Doo, Australia! My brother is a UT grad, class of 2021! Alex majored in Biology, with a concentration in Ecology and Evolution and a minor in Wildlife and Fisheries. Alex then graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 2023, with a Masters Degree in Biology and is now pursuing a PhD in Invasion Biology from Macquarie University. Alex conducts field work and research on cane toads at a field station in Humpty Doo, Australia. The field station Alex lives on is owned by Macquarie University. It is essentially a large piece of land with a few flats/houses and a big laboratory to conduct experiments.
I’d like to share a few funky fun facts related to my time spent with my brother in the Northern Territory (N.T.) of Australia.
First off, the N.T. is not for the faint of heart, especially if you’re not a fan of the creepy crawly. Basically every time I turned my head, I would see multiple gigantic spiders sitting in their webs. Now, none of the spiders I saw were venomous, however it was still quite jarring to come face-to-face with a 6-7 inch spider! Additionally, the N.T. has a wide variety of snake species (venomous and nonvenomous). While I was there, we saw five different species of snakes – a black-headed python, a childrens python, a water python, an olive python, and the infamous brown snake, which is very venomous.
Another thing you might not realize is that you cannot go swimming in any unchecked water features in the N.T. or you run the risk of being attacked by a saltwater crocodile. Saltwater crocodiles can reach up to 19 ft in length and are experts at blending in with their environment, so you probably would not even know that they were there until it was too late. Because of this, every year before anyone can swim in certain waterways, there are extensive checks for saltwater crocodiles. During these checks, workers remove the crocs that are found, and barriers are built to keep the crocodiles out of the designated swimming area. My brother and I went to several places that were certified as croc free including: Berry Springs, Litchfield National Park and East Point Reserve. 
While these facts about the N.T. may seem a bit startling, I assure you that the N.T. is a great place. A few places I would recommend visiting would be Litchfield National Park, for the gorgeous waterfalls and swimming holes, Territory Wildlife Park, because who doesn’t want to see all of the animals that live in the Northern Territory, and the Darwin Waterfront, which has lovely night markets and is a great place for beachcombing. I loved exploring the Northern Territory with my brother and I hope you have the chance to visit too!