Sunday 17 May 2015

First week of events

This first week has been an amazing start to show what lies ahead on our trip around the state of Florida. We started our first day meeting our instructors and getting to know the layout of the course. After the logistics was taken care of, we went kayaking around the campus and got to know the area and each other a little better. The second day is when we started visiting other professors around campus that introduced us to a few tools in the field of science. Some of these tools that interested me include a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a transmission electron microscope (TEM) that were explained to us by Dr. Tony Greco. He explained the details of each piece of equipment such as the process to view a sample to how much the equipment costs.


Dr. Tony Greco explaining the concepts behind the SEM. 


Another tool used for science that I found very interesting on our third day of the course was the R/V Weatherbird, This will be our research vessel that will be used to explore biodiversity, water quality and habitat conditions in the Gulf of Mexico. The R/V Weatherbird is 115 feet long and weighs 194 tons. After spending 3 days on the R/V bellows from FAU's spring semester course (Semester by the Sea), I am excited to have the opportunity to do the same thing on a much larger and nicer ship.


The R/V Weatherbird in the background while out on our kayaking trip exploring Salt Creek and Bayboro Harbor.

The P-MP's anxiously waiting their research exploration on the R/V Weatherbird June 16th. 

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