Skip to main content

Vester Marine Station

FGCU's Vester Marine Station was an eye-opening experience about how much fun you can have while learning. By far, this was my favorite field trip, because it was the most active one. I loved being on the water and figuring out how to steer the canoe. We were interacting with nature in a way we hadn't before on other field trips. Though we were having fun and getting exercise, we were also having important conversations about the nature around us. This concept makes me think of the discussions we have had throughout the course about education. It is important to start discussions about preserving our ecosystems, but it can be a challenge to get people's attention and get them to share your concern for conservation. Canoeing was a great way to form an individual and positive connection with the natural environment.
Image result for fgcu vester marine field station
While we were in our canoes, FGCU naturalists talked about the significance of the estuary ecosystem and pointed out interesting wildlife. Mangroves were the central focus of much of our conversation, because they are central to the survival of many of the species living among them. The mangroves serve as a habitat for fish and birds, provide the surrounding water and soil with nutrients, and act as a barrier to protect inland areas from hurricanes. The naturalists mentioned that South Florida started out as series of small mangrove islands, formed on top of the limestone that makes up the Florida substrate. This made me feel connected to Florida's history and helped me to understand more deeply the foundation of the ecosystem.

This weekend, I traveled to Tucson Arizona, and it could not have been more different from the estuary we were canoeing in. The town was in the middle of the desert, and the ground was dry and sandy instead of flourishing with life. This gave me a new appreciation for the wetlands I grew up around, and I realized that I have been taking access to water for granted. This appreciation reminded me of watching the film Before the Flood and some of the other videos we had seen in class, which emphasized that Florida may soon be underwater due to sea-level rise associated with climate change. Understanding that there are other places that aren't like where I live gave me sense of responsibility to protect what I have, so that my kids can experience the land I loved living in.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CREW

The Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed is 60,000 acres of protected natural land. On our class visit to CREW, we were fortunate enough to see many of the different plants and animals that live among the marshland with the help of educational guides and naturalists. We were taken along trails that introduced us to snakes, grasshoppers, and turtles while the guides told us about how CREW was developed and why it was important. Started by a local councilman many years ago, the preserved land is now a crucial part of Lee County's aquifer system, which accounts for all of our clean drinking water. At the end of the trail, there was an overlook tower situated in front of a large body of water, surrounded by plants and buzzing with the sound of life. It was here where we gathered to take in the view and discuss in depth the different parts of the ecosystem we were experiencing, and the importance of conservation. Standing atop the overlook tower and seeing the vast amount of wa...
Post a Comment
Read more

ECHO

Class discussions in Colloquium often include a problem or issue that is very complex. The issue tends to start as one element of an ecosystem that directly affects our lives, such as mosquitoes breeding the Zika virus, and quickly snowballs into a series of other problems like resulting pesticides killing bees, lack of pollination, and an eventual food desert as a result. Discussions like this can often be overwhelming, and it can seem very difficult to find an innovative solution to the issues we are talking about. Our field trip to ECHO showed us some of the solutions currently in place to solve another major issue: world hunger and the need for sustainable agriculture. Through the use of appropriate technologies and farming practices, the ECHO team is helping to feed many different parts of the world and communicate new ways of cultivating crops and livestock. The alternative technologies portion of the tour was definitely the part about our trip that I found the most fascinating...
Post a Comment
Read more