Week 5: UWF and Final Thoughts- Denny

Here we are, the final day of this fantastic field studies course. We ended the course at the University of West Florida. This week was focused on different environments and how they collectively influence the conditions of watersheds as a whole. The different environments included urban and rural freshwater systems as well as some estuary systems. It was enlightening to see how water conditions miles away can have an impact on Pensacola Bay. This week allowed us to compare the different systems around Pensacola Bay with a perspective I have not done previously.

Students sampling water from Carpenter Creek using a Van Dorn collection tube. 

One of the highlights of this week for me was the trip to the EPA lab. There we were exposed to various ongoing research studies and sampling devices. My favorite part of the tour was getting to speak with the researchers about the coral and shrimp studies. It important that scientists study the effects climate change will have on marine ecosystems. Learning about the physiological studies the researchers were conducting was impressive and much needed. While at the EPA lab we were also introduced to some of the sampling equipment used in fieldwork. Many of the instruments I had never before been exposed to.

Our class learning about various instruments used in fieldwork at the EPA Lab. 

These past few weeks have simply flown by. They have been filled with incredible moments that I will never forget. As someone who is relatively new to Florida, I enjoyed the opportunity to study the various ecosystems around the state I now call home. We were exposed to estuaries, intertidal zones, coral reefs, seagrass beds, and open ocean environments. This course allowed me to tie in all the knowledge I have learned in previous courses and apply it to real-world fieldwork. Seeing the hard conditions oyster reefs thrive in or the protection mangroves offer from strong winds reinforced the ideas we learned previously. This course has allowed me to fine tune my educational plan going forward. I have learned areas that I am not as interested in as others as well as reinforced my desire to study others. The valuable skills and experience gained through this course will no doubt aid me in my studies as I continue through my journey in marine science.

FIO Marine Field Studies class of 2019