This is the End (but not the last of the hydrozoans...)- Mike Kratz

Fun Fact: Did You Know I Like Birds?

        5 weeks, 35 days, 840 hours, or 50,400 minutes.  All these describe how long this course took place, but the wonderful experience I had will affect me for the rest of my life.  I met some of the most genuine and down to Earth people throughout this class and I hope to always have fond memories of the times we had together.  I know my classmates will accomplish great things, both in the field of science along with their personal lives.  I cared about all of them, even if I'm not the best at showing it (duh), and wish the best to them in their future endeavors. 

Barbara, the legend, showing us how to use a water sampling device

        This class taught me so much about what it takes to be a scientist: the determination, the endurance, the patience, and the skill it takes to work in the field.  I really narrowed down what I would like to do in the future including possible graduate programs that would suit me.  Even though I do love the ocean, I found out I might be more interested in studying terrestrial organisms which is a big turning point in my career since I am currently majoring in Marine Science.  I was also able to talk and branch out to a variety of professors during the course which will help me out in the future if I need advice on how to continue on to graduate school. 

A wild Denny striking a pose on his favorite day of the trip (heavy sarcasm here).

        This past week we spent a lot of time on land going through forests, looking at creek beds, and taking shallow water samples which was very exciting for me (even if it wasn't everybody's cup of tea since it is a "Marine Field Studies" course).  UWF was a beautiful school which had a variety of very knowledgeable and specialized professors, it was probably my favorite school of the whole trip.  The only complaint I have is with the amount of time we had for the final project since it was only two days to analyze data, create graphs, run stats tests, prove or disprove hypotheses, and to make a nice presentation of it all.  I know how to come in clutch last minute (especially since I am writing this blog post at 10:40 at night after driving 14 hours to get to Pennsylvania), but this was a lot to put on students who had spent the past 4 weeks doing nonstop field work and being annihilated by hydrozoans (except me since hydrozoans don't like redheads).  Either way it's done with now and one positive is that it helped us build character and will make data analysis later in our careers slightly less stressful.

The wombo-combo of Bekka and Brook back at it again (UWF Represent!)

        I am so happy I was given the opportunity to partake in this course and will forever treasure all of the people I met and the experiences I had.  Thank you to all of the professors that put up with our shenanigans and that gave me one of the most influential experiences of my life! 

Marine Field Studies Class of 2019

A Giant Chicken (Ardea herodias).