UWF- Bekka Boyd

Well, the five weeks has sadly come to an end. This last week we have been at UWF doing some the final water quality tests and getting data ready for our presentations. My group is focusing on chlorophyll-a and nutrients from all of the sites we've sampled from. Monday we went to urban watersheds (Carpenter Creek and Bayou Texar) and got water samples. That was probably my favorite day this week because we also got a tour of the EPA! They showed us their ongoing experiments and explained everything to us, which was such a cool experience. 

Tour of EPA

Corals from the EPA

Tuesday we explored Blackwater River and collected water samples. We also went around Blackwater Forest with a tour guide from the personnel and learned about the forest's history as well as the Longleaf pine ecosystem. We got to see several gopher tortoise burrows, pitcher plants, and places where controlled fires took place. 

Standing around a gopher tortoise burrow

Area of controlled fire

Wednesday was the most fun day because we got to snorkel! We drove to Shoreline park and collected water quality as well as examining seagrass beds. The most common seagrass species I saw was Thalassia testudinum (turtle grass). We used small quadrants to measure percent cover of the grasses and algae. 

Quadrat over seafloor

Getting ready to snorkel

Thursday we spent most of the day in the lab analyzing the data from the water samples we have collected over the past five weeks. Friday morning we had our last quiz and getting the final touches done for our presentations that afternoon. Hope all goes well! Overall, this course has been such an amazing time. It has provided me with experience, knowledge, and people I will never forget. I am so thankful that I could participate and be apart of such a great class. If anyone is wondering if they should take this course in the future, I definitely recommend!! 

Thank you to all of the faculty that put in their time and effort to make this class happen. I truly appreciate you all!