Week 5: UWF

Our fifth and final week at UWF was the best ending week I could have experienced. Even though we had to suffer and stick through days of rain, we all still had an enjoyable time in Pensacola. We could complete most of our activities regardless of the rain other than kayaking Monday at Indian Bayou.

Pensacola was a great ending week because we could see and use many different instruments that we have previously used, and it allowed us to get one last round of experience with them. We reused instruments such as the YSI, secchi disk, pore-water sampler, and a fluorometer. We discovered new instruments like the photo-quadrat, TSS, Engineer’s level, spotting scope, radio telemetry, and an A-frame.

Shorebird studying!

Our week basically consisted of conducting water quality tests, collecting water samples, studying the local watershed, analyzing the effects of urbanization on Carpenter’s Creek, surveying shorebirds, studying beach morphology with geomorphological surveying instruments, and performing lab work.  

Rainy beach days...

Overall, this course I believed helped me further discover areas that I could potentially want to research or work in, and let me know what I did not want to focus on in my career. It allowed me to be able to use many different instruments I would have not used in certain classes, and allowed me to use them out in the field which is even better. I met many people along the way and made some great friends during the class that I will dearly miss. The class also allowed me to travel across Florida which I would have never done, and I enjoyed exploring the state. I hope next year’s class has as much fun as we all did!

Exploring the creek!