Sunday, June 22, 2014

Recalling the Memories!!!

Now that the FIO 2014 course has come to an end it is time to say thank you. I want to say thanks to all the professors that took the time to share their knowledge,  inspire us to fallow our passion, show us all the beautiful campuses, and showing us the equipment used in the field. After traveling around Florida I have learned so much about a place I lived my entire life that I never knew before. This truly was an invaluable experience that has opened my eyes to what Florida has to offer. My travels have helped me realize what I want to do with my life, where I would consider going to graduate school, and where I would like to live in the future. I look back at all the schools I visited and recall the information I learned. At UWF in Pensacola we visited Black water River were we learned how to identify a variety of plants and pines such as, the Slash pine which have bundles of 2-5 and Long Leaf pine have bundles of 3. We also learned about the importance of both wild and prescribed fires for the maintenance of ecosystems. Later on that week we learned about the sand dunes and the variety of bird species that inhabit them. Species included Snowy Plover, Gull-billed Tern, and Black Skimmers which were being killed off by coyote, foxes, development of roads, and human interaction. This experience opened my eyes to the struggles that the environment and its wildlife are faced with every day.
Next stop was Jacksonville to UNF which happened to be one of my favorite Universities that I visited during this course. While staying at UNF we visited Ponta Vedra Beach we were given the opportunity to see another beach with sand dunes. This was interesting to compare the dunes that are better protected at UNF to those that were constantly disturbed at UWF.  Another crazy experience at UNF was the 24 hour study at a weir. I learned a lot about how the water quality and diversity of species changes throughout the day and night. I think it is safe to say that everyone loved and hated the 24 hour study but in the end we all agree it was worth doing.
After enduring the 24 hour study we left UNF and headed to the clear water of the Florida Keys. This was probably everyone's favorite place due to the numerous days on the boat, and seeing the beautiful reefs. We as a class really had our identification skills put to the test we had to learn how to identify a variety of fish, coral, algae, and more. This was also where I learned how to use the identification books.
Next Stop was FGCU  where we continued to sharpen our skills about the differences between sea grass beds and oyster reefs and their important role in maintaining water quality. We again continued to identify various species of fish and mangroves. This was also where I unfortunately got stung by a scorpion in the mangroves. So note to all who are visiting the mangroves in Fort Myers watch where you put your hands.
Our final stop was my home campus at USFSP where the coolest experience was on the research vessel the Weather Bird. This was where our class in my opinion had the greatest experience with using equipment related to our field of study. The equipment included: CTD, Neuston net, Bongo net, Otter trawl, and Dredge. On this vessel our class applied all of our skills of identification that we developed from weeks prior. It was very helpful during the sorting and identification of the species collected in the Neuston, Bongo, Otter trawl, and Dredge.

Overall this FIO course has been one of the greatest moments of my life and I loved how they combined students from different schools. I am so glad to have had this opportunity to meet all these wonderful  people and couldn't have asked for a better group. I felt that we all have become a huge family and I love and miss you all. I know we will all keep in touch and can't wait to see what we come up with next. I also would like to thank again all the professors and especially our TA Brock. Brock has been not only a great and supportive instructor, but also a truly incredible friend. Thank you for all your efforts and for putting up with all of us. You brought out the best in us all and I hope you will continue to guide others as you move on in your career. Please keep in touch and I wish you and your fiancee the very best.

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