Final week at UNF!

The last week of our FIO field studies in marine biology has already ended! I felt like it went by way too fast. It seems like just yesterday we were meeting at this same campus to begin our journey. Dr. Hackney told us during our introduction at UNF that we would be exhausted every night of this trip and he was certainly not lying! We worked so hard every day, I never slept so well at night until this trip! But, we got to see so many amazing things and learn so much new information that it was all worth it. I could not have asked for a better experience this summer. I have met so many inspirational people and learned more things than I could have imagined. I am definitely going to miss snorkeling every day in the keys and I might even have a desire to take some water samples next time I go to the beach. The final week at UNF went out with a bang! The first day, we traveled on a boat down the St. John's river to collect water samples at 4 different locations along the river so that we could get a better understanding of estuarine gradients and see how humans have impacted the environment. It was really interesting to see how many ways that people use the St. John's river. We saw fishing boats, boats that were dredging sediment from the bottom of the river, a large amount incoming freight being loaded onto piers, a cruise ship, and all kinds of action gong on that day! We saw how the river narrows as we passed through the city of Jacksonville. We saw tons of dolphins but also tons of trash in the river that day. The next day, we did a 24 hour study at Guana Lake and Guana River that tested us in many ways. It was definitely no easy task taking water samples every hour and pulling seine nets every 3 hours with little sleep, but I definitely feel like I earned a lot of experience learning how to work efficiently with others and how to use new field equipment. After a day of rest, we did a beach walk where we traveled to a few different beaches so that we could learn more about barrier island formation on the east coast and see how various anthropogenic effects, such as the construction of jetties, effects the barrier islands. 

Overall, I really feel like I have had my eyes opened to so many new opportunities to help change the world! I knew that humans had a huge impact on our oceans and waterways, but I did not really consider all the little things that add up and really degrade these areas the most. I was disgusted to see how we use and abuse our environment, but at the same time, I feel excited to start my journey towards reversing this damage. Especially now that I have seen all the ways in which we can help. 

Week Five Location: UNF Jacksonville

Our final week started with splash on Monday to say the least.  We began the week surveying the St. John’s River. It was there I had the unpleasant experience of using the Secchi Tube at our last station of the day. A Secchi Tube is similar to a Secchi Disk however, instead of lowering in into the water measuring the distance a person can empty the tube until they can see the disk at the bottom. This tube is used when there is a strong current within the water. 

It’s simple in concept but hard to implement due to the fact that the Secchi easily comes up to my chin which made it quite difficult to see the disk at the bottom. In order to see down the tube I tried to preach my foot on the edge of the boat. It worked for a short while until the river decided that it wanted me to go swimming that day.  Within moments of propping my foot up I had unfortunately gone overboard with a large splash. Luckily I had a life jacket and was able to climb back on the boat with little problem. I learned a valuable lesson that day I now know to make sure that I’m tall enough to use a piece of equipment with both feet on deck.  This by far was my favorite part of the week because its always nice to go swimming after a long hot day of work. I would suggest that you go to a pool of beach before falling out of a boat for safety reasons.

 Overall I felt that the week at Jacksonville was more enjoyable than some of the previous weeks. I have my friends Emily and Autumn to thank for that. Without them I easily would’ve gone crazy with loneliness. This class was not only a great opportunity to network with schools all across Florida it was also a great opportunity to make new lifelong friends.

 I look forward to being able to work with them on future projects as Emily would say “for science”.  In retrospect this class has been one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had and has given me hope for the future. It is almost surreal being at home after this five week adventure I’ve had, but now I can focus on being the best Marine Biologist I can be. 

Final Week at UNF!

So the course has come to an end. I learned so much over the last five weeks of this course.  I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to travel the state and do the work we got to do. Florida's coasts are so dynamic that I have discovered that I can do anything here. Florida is a great place to study all sorts of different things that I was unaware of until this course. Conservation and area management are huge in multiple aspects like the reefs in the Keys and with inlets around Jacksonville. The climate is changing which is bringing around new ecosystems with mangroves moving northward but at the same time removing the current ecosystems. I have gotten to see so many things that I had never seen before that I finally figured out what I want to study in grad school. This course has been a wonderful opportunity to meet people and study things that you don't get to on campus. I wish we could travel around the whole state and do it all one more time. I feel I have made great connections from this course with peers and with possible Professors for grad school. I wish I was back in the water collecting water quality data with the whole cohort one last time. This course was definitely the best decision for figuring out what to do once you get your bachelor's degree. I have already signed up for volunteer opportunities that I found because of this course. The different beaches with different flora and fauna and the different estuaries with different flora and fauna are really incredible and I am so glad that we got to study them all.

 

Week 5: UNF and final goodbyes

The final week of my awesome journey was spent at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, FL. Our main focus this week was estuarine ecology and the coast. We did a 24 hour study where we took water quality samples and seine nets and observed how these changed over time. It was surprising how much the different parameters changed. We got to watch the tide come in and out and I was amazed with how far down it got. It was very interesting to see the different organisms we caught during the day versus at night. Many of the organisms only came out at night and many of them only were out during the day. There was also a huge tidal influence on them which I was not expecting to see. The 24 hour study was very long but it was great to see the outcome. I think it would be interesting to do it for a longer period of time to observe long term changes. I'm pretty sure I was the smelliest one when it was time to leave. Sorry guys...

This class taught me a lot about Florida and opened up so many different opportunities for my future. I am still new to the area so I don't know a lot about what is offered for marine biology. This class showed me so many different areas that I can focus my studies on and also showed me the different areas of Florida that I had never been. I almost don't feel like a Minnesotan anymore! This class showed me that I made the right decision in moving down to Florida to do something I love.

I had a great week at UNF. It was fun to start and end in the same place. I met some amazing people on this trip. I wasn't expecting to get so close to so many other students. The relationships that I made with the other students will last forever. Being in such close quarters with everybody really brought us closer together. I am honored to have spent 5 weeks with such smart and awesome people. Without them this trip would not have been as enjoyable. I made so many good friendships through this class. I already miss waking up to 11 other people every morning! I miss you all so much!!

A Final Week at UNF

Traveling down the St. Johns River

A squid found in Guana Lake

    As this course has come to a close, it feels so strange recently to not be in or around the water each day. Throughout the past 5 1/2 weeks, we have been spoiled. Spending continuous days on the ocean or within an estuary, is amongst many things that some people only dream about.
This final week was diverse and challenging, just as the many others in the past. At UNF we focused primarily on estuarine gradients, 24-hour surveys, and high energy beaches. Monday was quite relaxing as we traveled down the St. Johns River and took water quality measurements. Using a YSI probe and other such equipment have become relatively more comfortable for me throughout the weeks. I am excited to be able to use these skills in the near future as I work with other research professors and in science-related activities. 
    Tuesday and Wednesday seemed to merge together as we ventured to Guana Tolomato Mantanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve. At 11:30 Tuesday morning, we began a 24-hour session of water quality and fauna assessments. Consistently, we measured factors such as salinity, dissolved oxygen levels, and turbidity. Dissolved oxygen levels peaked within the afternoon due to an increase in primary production. As well, turbidity varied greatly. Guana River and Guana Lake are both highly used by fishermen and boating activities which can cause high levels of suspended particles within the water column. Fauna assessments were conducted by seining a particular area of the lake and river. Each seine pull seemed to collect new and interesting species. Not surprisingly, the Brown Shrimp was the most abundant species caught. Tuesday and Wednesday were long days, but definitely beneficial. I had never experienced biology in that manner before.
    Thursday was spent exploring various seashores throughout the St. Augustine and Jacksonville region. Each beach was a living, breathing habitat for shorebirds and tidal creatures. I really enjoyed learning of how dynamic ocean areas are affected by wind currents and tides. Natural processes like these shape and move inlets and sandbars quite rapidly. If we remained in one place for an extended period, we could observe how the waves would reshapen and mold many characteristics of a beachfront.
    As each week has passed, I am left with more awe and amazement of the world around us. I am truly excited for what my future hold in the marine biology career field. As I continued down the path of life, I hope to always learn more about the ocean and all of its inhabitants.

LAST WEKK UNF!

      Our final week for the course was at UNF. I was excited that it was the last week and that we would be getting to go home, but I was also sad that I'd be leaving all the awesome friends that I had made the past 5 weeks. This was the week that we would be doing the 24 hour survey looking at tidal movement in a river and lake system, while also look at species diversity and richness. I personally love sleep, so I was not exactly looking forward to this study as much as I had looked forward to the other studies we had done along the trip, however, it ended up being a lot of fun. Even though we were all sleep deprived, and at one point I took a nap on a bench during my break time, I learned a lot about the different species present at different times and tides as well as shifts in water quality data thought the day. The study reminded me of a big camping trip, just minus the smores and tents. 

   

   This trip has taught me so much about the field that I love and has made me even more exited about the future in this career path. I met so many amazing scientists at each location and in my group. It was the first time I was in a group of my peers that all have the same passion I do. I wish they offered more courses like this because I learned so much, both in and out of class. I hope the friendships that I made on this trip will go on past this class and I'm so incredibly thankful that I had this amazing
opportunity.

Once More, with Feeling

First, before my final summery of this amazing 5.5 week experience, hopefully some of you reading this are prospective students of the 2016 or even 2017 FIO course. When I was first told about this course by my professor at FGCU, Dr. Douglass, he suggested I read through the 2014 FIO students final blog reviews to get a better understanding of what I would be experiencing if I decided to sign up for this class. I have to say that reading about the 2014 FIO classes experiences and how much fun they had as well as how much they learned about marine biology was one of the main reasons that solidified my decision to take this course. I’m really happy Dr. Douglass pushed me to take this course when I was on the fence about it. Also, a huge thank you goes to my parents who supported my decision to pursue my dreams and take this course!

I loved that this course was almost all fieldwork based. Pretty much every day we were spending at least some of it on a boat, along the coast, or in the ocean.  The days are long, but so worth it (5 hour energies became my best friend during these past few weeks). The professors at each location made sure we were having fun while learning a ton of new information at the same time. Never at one point did I feel overwhelmed, even though I was by farrrrrr the one in my group with the least marine biology experience (I was the only one out of our group of 11 that was a non-bio or non-marine science major). But, as an Environmental Studies major,  that was what made this course extra special for me, because I was pretty much learning something completely new every day.

So, I guess I’ll first start out by talking about why/how I ended up taking this course. I was already all set to graduate this past spring with my B.A. in Environmental Studies when I decided to take a freshman level class called Marine Systems just for the fun of it. The basic overview of marine life and marine ecosystems I received from that class sparked my interest in a subject I had not learned much about before, so when I heard about the FIO class I was eager to sign up. That leads into why I loved this course so much. Because I was exposed to so many different aspects of marine biology on this trip, it really helped me decide what I wanted to focus on and what area of Florida I wanted to focus on for my career.

I’m just going to briefly talk about some of my favorite moments of each location, otherwise my blog would be about 20 pages long if I mentioned everything I loved.

UWF

I couldn’t have asked for a better first week. My favorite part was when we spent the day at Pensacola Beach and the Santa Rosa Sound seine netting the whole day in order to determine fish abundance and diversity.

Pensacola beach was beautiful

Two enthusiastic snorkelers on the bottom left

I also really loved working with the Turtle T.H.I.S. program on the beach at Santa Rosa Island. It was a cool nighttime study that was going to be used to determine how much light from buildings, cars, and other unnatural sources was affecting baby sea turtles and their ability to find the ocean when they hatched.

UWF

Week 2 was at the University of North Florida. During this week I took part in probably the most unique thing during the whole 5.5 weeks: the 24 hour study at GTMNERR. It was awesome and rewarding, and something that is just not possible for regular students at universities because it involves us staying up and being out in the field for 24 straight hours. We seined for marine life at two different locations every 3 hours and took water quality samples every hour. I actually had a blast for the first 18 hours, it was only during those final 6 hours that fatigue started to set in. But overall, definitely worth it, and it is something I will never forget.

I also really enjoyed our boat trip on the St. John’s River in the beautiful city of Jacksonville. We travelled almost 70 total miles on the water that day, going upriver to where there was almost no salinity, and then ending up near the ocean about six hours later. We compared how salinity, DO, turbidity, and other factors changed as we traveled down river, as well as how human impacts like dredging and construction altered the river.

Keys

Oh the Keys…. I had actually never been to the Keys or even been snorkeling before that week. But, this was the week that I was looking forward to the most, and it didn’t disappoint. We stayed at the Keys Marine Lab which was right on the water, and the first thing I did when I got there on Sunday night was went snorkeling right outside our dorm. It was awesome to notice the differences in marine life during day and night. Michael and I went night snorkeling 3 or 4 different nights in that area outside the marine lab, but we never ventured too far because we were afraid of the huge crocodile that we would see lurking in the area.

The best part of this week was being out on the boat and literally snorkeling at a new area every day. My favorite place was definitely Looe Key because there we saw the biggest diversity of marine life. I was able to get some awesome pictures on the go-pro of a bull shark and a few Caribbean reef sharks. I did realize that I was awful at memorizing the scientific names of corals, but I feel like that is because I only had four days to study them. And since I have over a month of down time until I graduate in August, it is definitely something I am going to brush up on.

 A little Caribbean reef shark in the bottom right

FGCU

I’ll be honest; before the course started FGCU was probably the week I was least looking forward to. Mostly because I had been at the school for three years already and assumed I knew most of what the area had to offer, and partly because I read a few complaints in the blogs of last years FIO class saying there was tons of excel work during that week.

Core sampling!

Identifying shells at Mound Key was a great time

I was definitely proved wrong about both of my concerns, and it ended up being one of my favorite weeks of the course! The Vester Station we stayed at for the week was really cool and located right on the estuary. One thing about the week that was kind of nice was that we usually got done with our work around 3:30 or 4:00 each day. The other four weeks we were usually in class or out in the field until 5:00 or 5:30. Getting done at 3:30 or 4:00 each day allowed for our group to relax at the pool or go kayaking in the estuary before dinner. And while we got done with our daily activities a bit earlier here compared to other places, I still felt as if I learned as much as at FGCU compared to the other four locations. Each day was a ton of fun, including core sampling, identifying shells at Mound Key, shark fishing, and comparing changes in estuary gradients.

Shark fishing was an amazing experience. 6ft tiger shark

USFSP

This was open ocean week, so of course I have to talk about my experience on the Weatherbird (a massive research vessel that we took out into the Gulf). It was a long 14-hour day on the ship that ended with us getting back at 1:00 am, but it was totally an amazing experience. We went 27 miles out into the ocean in order to use a bunch of cool instruments that collected marine organisms, plankton, and measured water quality. It was awesome to see the variety of marine life we collected from our dredging and trawling, and then we sorted it and identified it right on the boat. I also had a blast at the Florida Aquarium, and it was great being able to identify some of the fish and coral there that I had learned during the previous weeks.

Identifying species on the Weatherbird

Delaying my graduation for the sole purpose of taking this course was worth it x1000. Before this summer, I was all set to graduate as an Environmental Studies major, but I still really wasn’t sure what kind of career I wanted to focus on.  I was hoping this class would find me some job connections, or at least help me get a better idea of what kind of career I wanted to pursue. By the end of these six weeks I knew what I wanted to focus on, and even discovered multiple other things I am passionate about in case my first option doesn’t work out.

I realized the Keys is my dream location and that I have a strong passion for coral reef ecosystems and restoration. I am extremely grateful and fortunate that my friend was able to set me up with some job connections in the Keys during our week there. Even though those connections are Environmental Studies related, it’s a great opportunity to get my foot in the door and gives me the chance to move to the area. I plan to try to volunteer at the Mote Marine Lab in order to start to get some coral experience (thank you to Dr. Voss for that idea).

As I wrap up, a big thank you goes out to all the professors at each location. They were all awesome and extremely passionate about their fields. Their enthusiasm definitely rubbed off onto us, and made us want to absorb as much information as we could. I know it wasn't easy for them to volunteer at least two weeks out of their busy summer schedules to help with with program, but believe me when I say that all the other students and I appreciated it greatly.  I was 100% against grad school before this FIO class, but after talking with a few of the professors about it, I  can actually see it as a possibility for me a year or two down the road.

Overall, this truly was one of the best experiences of my life. As I look back I realize how this was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I will cherish forever. It's so hard knowing I won't wake up to 11 other marine science enthusiasts every morning. I wish all students could experience something like this at some point during their college years. Now excuse me while I start convincing all of my Marine Science and Environmental Study's major friends to take this course

Luckily all of my injuries were minor so I didn't have to miss any days in the field!

Monica: I could write a whole page on how great it was to have you as our TA these past few weeks, but I’ll try to keep it short. You are seriously one of the nicest women I’ve ever met. You were always looking out for all of us and constantly checking up on me after my various injuries. I’m amazed at how you were able to bring the same high levels of energy and enthusiasm each and every day. We will all miss you so much. You were all of our second moms during this trip, and we appreciate that soooo much. 

Jessica, Taylor, and Chelsea: My fav UWF girls! It's too bad you guys were in the other cohort, but I'm so glad I got to hang with y’all, even if it was just for the week. Thank you for making the first week in Pensacola awesome by taking me to all the cool activities and events the area had to offer.

'Bands on the Beach'

Jade: I’m really glad I got to know you over these past 6 weeks because somehow we never crossed paths when we were both FGCU students. You are extremely nice and we better hang out again while I’m still in ft myers!

Johnna: It was great to see your passion and enthusiasm for sharks! I’m glad I helped you get over your fear of sunblock (or somewhat over your fear haha)

Natalie: I’m really glad I got to know you better as the weeks went by. You were a ton of fun to be around every time we hung out! I’ll miss you so much

John: You're really smart and definitely one of the nicest people in the group. I loved that you were always complementing and thanking everyone for even the littlest things (even though I suspect that some of your complements on our cooking was just you being nice and polite, because me and a few others in the group were definitely below average cooks haha)

Harold: You were another extremely nice guy. It was great talking basketball and just sports in general with you. You kind of reminded me of myself a bit because of how laid back you are. Oh, and you were definitely the best cook out of the group. Cavs>Heat

Brian: You were a real down to Earth guy, it was great getting to know you. Best of luck as you finish up your last semester. I know you’ll have no problem finding your dream job. You're almost as cool as Dozer, and I’m glad I found someone who enjoyed the bushwackers as much as I did.

We'll pretend you made it on your first try

Sarah: I’m glad I got to know you better as the weeks went on. I knew I could always count on you to save me from drowning if I ever got swept away by a rip current in the ocean!

Jealous you got a pic with him!

Sammi: First, I’d like to thank you for getting me hooked on saying FOMO. You are awesome and hilarious, and I’m so glad you were one of the people who I spent a ton of time with during this trip. Somehow you were always able to keep a positive mood even when pretty much all of us were complaining about something or being grouchy. I’ll miss you tons, go Bulls!

I loved that you always looked so thrilled to work with me!

Lisa: Oh Lisa where to start… It’s hard at this moment to say all I want to say about you on here (because I could write a novel about all the good times and memories us and cuatro had during these 6 weeks) You’re extremely smart and I know you’ll be successful at whatever type of career you choose. I’m going to miss you tons!

Always so eager to take pics with me!

Michael: Last, and definitely least…Michael.  You made this trip 10 times more fun for me. We had a blast together and I’m glad we both shared the same enthusiasm and passion for doing all the active fieldwork (snorkeling, seining, dip netting etc). You’re a hilarious guy and because of that there wasn’t a dull moment around you during these past 6 weeks. I definitely got to know you best out of everyone during this trip and hopefully we’ll stay good friends for a long time.

So, who’s planning the FIO reunion for next summer?

(and Dr. J, I told you I had a ton to write, but I managed to keep it under 3000 words ;) )

****2022 update!!! The FIO course did indeed lead me to get my dream job in the Florida Keys, where I have been working for the last 6 years (instagram @thepatmalloy). I recommend this course to anyone who might randomly stumble on this in 2022 (slim odds, but seriously I think I had the best final blog post in FIO history!). On a sad note, we were unable to ever plan a reunion, and all those who I was close to during the course I haven't even seen again since :( Sadly, I have only remained friends with one person in my cohort, Jade (you da best)...so appreciate those short 5.5 weeks everybody!

The final week: UNF

UNF was a great place to begin and end this 5 1/2 week journey. I loved getting to experience the Atlantic Ocean and seeing how different it is from the Gulf of Mexico. The East coast has greater wave action and greater tidal influence which is what we studied during our 24hr observation. I really appreciated watching the tide come in and out over the span of a full day. It forced me to pay attention to the patterns that happen every day and realize just how dramatic the difference between high and low tide is. We did water quality tests every hour and pulled seine nets every 3 hours and were only allotted a 3 hour window for sleep! It was exhausting but super cool. The only thing I'm a little bummed about was not catching more animals, most of the seines yielded around 20 animals and most of them were brown shrimp (what I'm measuring on the right). Overall I feel like it was a good representation of what I would actually experience in the field when I begin my own research. You may not have the opportunity for breaks if you want good science.

 
The rest of the week was blurred with exhaustion but packed with information about oceanic influence on inlets and human's efforts to keep inlets from moving like they do naturally. This week was great for seeing the big picture of what is going on with our coasts. Dr. Hackney especially emphasized the average person's point of view on the water. Marine biologists see it as something to be saved but many people see it as their source of income. It was nice to hear the other side of the story and really think about how we could find some middle ground.

This entire trip was amazing. I am so thankful that I decided to do this course instead of a different class at UWF. I learned more than I thought I could, both academic and practical knowledge. The instructors were so knowledgeable and helpful when it came to any question I had. No lecture/lab course can compare to what this field studies course did for me. I'm inspired and more convinced than I have ever been that I chose the right major. The biggest thank you to everyone that made this possible.

Final Week

This past week at the University of North Florida marked the end of this course and it was a bittersweet one. We had three main projects we conducted, which included a 24-hour survey of Guana lake and Guana river. I have never learned much about tide or had a good understanding of how it affected the behavior and life cycles of organisms until this temporal study. Water quality was taken every hour using a pH Meter as well as a YSI meter. Then every three hours, a seine net was used to collect a sample of the abundance of fish and crustaceans present. This was a very interesting process at     2: 30 am. After data collection and much needed sleep, my group analyzed the percent saturation of dissolved oxygen, dissolved oxygen mg/L, and the most abundant organisms every hour found at both environments. The brown shrimp were found to be the most abundant at both sites, which is probably due to them being slower and bottom dwellers. The 24-hour survey was challenging, but fun. We created so many memories that I will always remember. You really get to see your peers and professors in new light when they have had a bunch of coffee and minimum sleep. Haha. 

On Thursday we went to several beaches and studied high energy environments. My favorite part of this week was probably adventuring at Coquina Rock. Over time tidal pools have formed in the rock and organisms have been able to survive that you would not normally see on an open beach. With my dip net in hand, I found sergeant majors, anemones, cling fish, Bennies, and a sea star. After being in the Keys and snorkeling with sergeant majors everyday, it was very surprising to see them so far up north and so small! By the end of the day we were all having contests to see who could catch the sergeant majors. They were incredibly fast! 

All in all, I had a fantastic time with FIO and I couldn't have asked for better people to work with and learn from. My brain is definitely over flowing with information. Since I have gotten home, regurgitating my experiences from the past 5.5 weeks have been a daunting task. I'm so excited to apply everything I have learned to my everyday life and in my classes next semester. 

Week 5: UNF

The last week of our marine biology experience was spent at UNF. We spent the week doing a number of different things. On Monday, we went down the St. John’s River and studied different parts of the estuary. We were able to see how much the water changed depending on our distance from the ocean. Tuesday and Wednesday were spent completing a 24-hour study of Guana Lake and River. Each hour, water quality was measured and recorded and every third hour, a seine net was pulled to collect samples of the aquatic life present. Thursday was spent traveling to different beach sites to discuss the differences between them and the way tide, natural events, and human interactions affect them. All data from the 24-hour study was analyzed on Friday. It was a sad day when we had to wrap up and say all our goodbyes. The past five and a half weeks have been so incredible, and it has been just such an amazing experience. I have learned so much and met some amazing people. It was great having my eyes opened to many different fields in marine biology. I now have a better understanding of what I want to do with my degree and what I want to specialize in. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Marine biology is such an exciting field and I can’t wait to see what other adventures lie ahead!