Field Studies in Marine Biology- FIO course 2014: Week One

On the first day of this Field Studies course I was nervous and excited about meeting everyone but I had no idea of what I was in for. Our teacher Dr. G turned out to be one of the coolest professors I have ever met and she gave a small powerpoint on her background experience then had the students break into groups to introduce one another (one of her crafty ways of getting us to meet one another). I met Dana, an all-around happy girl who has a passion for Molecular Biology. As the class introduced one another we quickly realized that everyone in this course shares the same passion for the ocean and same hobbies, needless to say everyone became best friends quickly. After the classroom session the group had some team building fun on a kayaking trip through the Bayboro harbor. Sadly it was cut short an hour early because a big storm came in and soaked the entire crew.

On the second day of class, we spent the morning in the classroom learning about the different habitats of the ocean and important biotic and abiotic factors that influence the changing environment. Overall we learned that the marine environment can be separated into two broad divisions: the benthic realm of the seafloor (the area that I am most interested in studying) and the pelagic water column. Within the different marine habitats we learned that the pelagic species consist of phytoplankton and zooplankton and benthic organisms live on the seafloor or right below the surface.

Once we left the classroom we went to the Marine Science College to the geology lab to observe a wax model of seafloor spreading. That model has been the highlight of this course for me because after observing an actual 3-D model of seafloor spreading, everything that I have ever read out of a textbook makes sense now. I can look at a map of the ocean floor and fully understand how each individual line on that map got there. I know the exact type of tectonic activity that takes place and the direction that the plate moved to create a fault line on a map.

After the geology lab we went to the paleontology lab and we learned about how scientists through the use of sediment cores could date how old a certain portion of the earth is. The paleontologists would biometrically date different parts of the Earth by dating foraminifera’s. They then showed us how they could tell whether the climate was good or bad through the use of mass spectrometers which could tell the oxygen to carbon dioxide ratio in the calcium carbonate shells that the forams would develop.

On the third day, Friday, we began again in the classroom, learning background information on the diversity of life in the sea. We learned about differences in morphological features among the marine organisms that better suit them for their oceanic habitats. Simple things such as the shape of the tail of a fish or the shape of its mouth can tell how fast it swims or the type of eater it is(predatory, ambush, etc.) . We also learned the factors that are critical to phytoplankton productivity because they are at the bottom of the food chain and have a drastic effect on the biodiversity of an area.

Once we finished in the classroom we went to the Remote Sensing Lab in the college of Marine Science and learned about how scientists have gathered the longest historical record of the Earths surface and its changes over time. How is this all possible? Through the use of satellites! The best part of the day was when we managed to get a professor to show us how a scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope works. The transmission microscope is so advanced it can literally look at the organs of cells.