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Born and raised in a remote region of Colombia, a South American country dominated by lush tropical rainforests and FARC guerrillas (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), I never imagined spending my summers in Greece amongst picturesque olive groves and tourists, much less conducting research on one of its islands. Since 2013, I have had the opportunity to spend eight weeks every summer on the island of Lesbos, the third largest island in the Aegean Sea. However, this island is not just like the other Greek islands we all see on television and pamphlets in tourist agencies; it offers more than the lovely white houses with blue accents tightly packed on a foothill facing a turquoise sea. The research experiences on this island are also not comparable with any of those I have had in other international locations. Lesbos is only about two times the surface area of New York City but is biologically highly diverse. This volcanic island is situated only 9 km from the Turkish coast and has multiple natural ecosystems and agroecosystems including wetlands, chestnut and oak forests, and olive groves. Due to its vicinity to the Asian continent, it supports species of animals and plants from both the Mediterranean region and Asia. In the spring and fall, flocks of migrant birds from Africa are captured by the lenses of photographers and amateur birdwatchers who move like ants throughout the island. More than 20 million years ago, several species of trees covered parts of Lesbos, but today, only their petrified forms remain as evidence of this ancient diversity.