University of West Florida was the last stop on our journey throughout Florida. This week was filled with all kinds of emotions for me. I was sad to leave my friends that I got really close to during these 5 weeks, and excited to learn even more research skills that I can use in my college career. This trip definitely amplified my passion to become a marine biologist, and a researcher. This week has taught me something about myself, that I really enjoy the research aspect of marine biology. I now know what research I would like to focus further in my career. Coral reef research has become my favorite because there are so many different things you can study involving the reefs.
Our
week at UWF started off with a rainy day, but it did not stop us from
collecting water analysis data. We tested areas starting with the creek, and
moving along the creek to some fresh water areas, and then into the bayou. In
the data we collected, we found a correlation between salinity and
conductivity. When salinity was high, a high conductivity was observed. The
opposite can be observed when we collected data from a fresh water system. We
also observed a correlation between the amount of suspended sediment and the
amount of chlorophyll that was collected. We observed, the higher the amount of
suspended sediment in the water, the chlorophyll a was higher. We also learned
how to a light mete, and how to calculate light attenuation in the water.
Further
in the week, we got a tour of a federal organization known as the EPA. This was
my favorite activity we did throughout the trip. At first they explained one of
their recently started research projects. Their prime suspect in this
experiment was the flathead minnow because this species gets big enough after
30 days to take the brains out and study them. There other prime suspect are
the tenophores, they were studying how pollutants like carbon dioxide and
pesticides affect the ocean. My favorite part of the tour was learning about
the research involving different cultures of corals. The researcher and her
advisor were working on how microbeads affect coral. Because microbeads are
bits of plastic that can get deposited in the ocean, this can affect the ocean
in a negative way. This was very interesting to me. After this, we got a tour
of the wet lab where all the instruments are stored. The researcher told us
about a powerful instrument called SPI. Sediment Profile Imaging, is a powerful
camera that can give a rough image of the sediment that makes up the
substrate under
water. From here you can pick out single particles and estimate grain size of
that substrate.
On
Thursday, we used a variety of scientific instruments to observe beach
profiling. We used an engineer’s profile to measure the elevation of the transects.
An A-plot was used to measure the angle of elevation or depression of the
transects. We also used quadrats to quantify our observations by using percent
coverage. We also learned some main beach species of plants. These included the
common sea oat, sea rocket, and primrose. This vegetation was observed in different
amounts when moving along the transects.
I
learned even more research skills, which I could use in my college career. And
helping with research that a professor is going to use to apply for a grant was
a really good experience. This week really showed me how to come up with
research questions, and how to answer these research questions. This class will
definitely help me with my own research in the future. It was a class of a
lifetime.
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