A week spent at UWF

Wow! What a week! I think I fell more in love with the ocean this week. I fell more in love with research too. Each day was filled to the brim with water-related field work and data analysis. I adored all of it!

 After getting settled in the dorms Sunday night, the adventure began early Monday morning with stream ecology. The impacts of human interaction was so clearly evident in all of the field sites. Invasive, thriving foliage and brightly-colored debris braided itself in the sediments of the natural ecosystem, stifling the  biodiversity that had once flourished there. We, humans, had done this... We have embedded rubble and runoff deep within the veins of nature. Intentionally or unintentionally we have been reducing the life around us. Throughout this week, I learned that a healthy ecosystem should be high in biodiversity. To understand this more, the Cohorts were introduced to multiple field sites which included areas with high human-impact and areas with low human-impact.

Learning how to use a dip net!

The seahorse I found in Big Lagoon!

It was so exciting that the light data we collected around the sea turtle's nests will be used for greater use. I really admired the researchers this past week and all of the hard work they are doing everyday to make Florida a better place. Each day went so quickly and I found myself thinking during each activity, " I could do  this forever." I absolutely fell in love with research this week. I can only dream of what the future holds for this class and for my future career.