What a first week!

The first week at UWF couldn't have gone better. I honestly have nothing bad to say about this week. I had never been to the Florida panhandle before so it was really cool to see how the area differed from where I live in Ft. Myers. I love UWF's campus, especially how there are a lot of changes in elevation because that is something I don't see in Ft. Myers.

All the professors and others helping our cohort were extremely nice and very knowledgeable about their areas of expertise. I'd like to thank Dr. Caffrey for helping us analyze our seagrass data that we used on our final powerpoint presentation. Dr. Jeffrey was hilarious, and even though I have never really had an interest in studying bacteria, his enthusiasm for the subject almost made me want to look into it more...almost. 

I my favorite day was the one we spent at Pensacola Beach and the Santa Rosa Sound using the seine nets. Since I am an Environmental Studies major at FGCU, I have had very few courses that have a main focus on the ocean and marine life. A huge reason I decided to take this course was because I have always had an interest in marine life/ecosystems, and I knew I would learn a ton from this course. This first week did not disappoint in that aspect. Seining was great because I got to learn a lot of the common fish species in the Pensacola area as well as which ones are the most abundant. 

I also really loved how we got to work with the Turtle T.H.I.S. program at Santa Rosa Island. I interned at Lovers Key State Park in Ft. Myers last summer, and during that internship I got to tag along with the park rangers who would patrol the park beach every morning looking for sea turtle nests. I got to witness how the rangers would carefully dig up the nests in order to move then eggs and then cage them off in order to protect them from predators. That internship really increased my interest in sea turtles, so that is why I was glad to be able to help out with gathering the light data this week on the beach at Santa Rosa. I am eager to know how what our data shows on how light effects/disorients baby sea turtles as they hatch.

I know some people didn't enjoy the Wahoos game because of the rain, but I had a blast there. I love going to baseball games, and I was fortunate enough to share an umbrella so I didn't get wet. There were only a few of us who stayed until the end, but it was rewarding for us because all the scoring happened towards the end of the game. 

I have been getting along great with everyone from our cohort, and we all have grown closer over this past week. It was also awesome to have cohort B with us this week. I had a blast meeting them and hanging with them. Everyone from cohort B was beyond helpful and friendly, and it's unfortunate that this was the only week we would see them but I understand that having 20+ people at each location wouldn't always be possible. Shoutout to the cohort B girls Taylor, Chelsea, and especially Jessica for showing me some awesome areas/events around Pensecola to hang after class. Oh, and a special thanks to Monica for going out of her way to help me with my foot that I injured at the beach last week. I couldn't have asked for a better TA!

A mixture of Cohort A and B relaxing at 'Bands on the Beach' after a long day in the field