Down and Dirty and I Love It

Down and Dirty and I Love It

Photo credit: Amanda Schaaf

This week was spent at the University of West Florida where we recapped the week. Traveling around Pensacola, we were able to analyze the water quality of various bayou's in the area and see how water flowed through this system and the ways in which it changed along the way. We compared the differences in urban and rural bayous including the effects of the environments around them. Some of the things we did were refreshers from earlier weeks, such as the seagrass and shorebird monitoring, while others were completely new, including getting to visit the EPA lab in Pensacola. One activity in particular stood out to me. On the same day we visited the Naval Live Oaks for seagrass monitoring, we were also introduced to  graduate students who were trying to determine if there was a relationship between groundwater and the state of seagrass beds. One student was using a dry-point piezometer which consisted of a long metal rod with a filter on the bottom. When pushed into the sediment on the water's edge, he could collect the water beneath the sediment layer. This water's salinity and temperature would be recorded and compared to different depths. Another student was analyzing the Radon 2-20 and 2-22 in the same area because these isotopes do not occur naturally. Traces of them would indicate that these sites were hotspots for groundwater discharge. It was truly inspirational to see students only a few years older than us conducting such incredible research.

Alas, this week marked the end of our journey, and it would be an understatement to say that I am not sure how to proceed. I don't mean that I feel lost as if this course had not helped me find a path, but rather that it gave me glimpses into SO many different opportunities that I'm not sure which one I liked the most.


Quite literally, I have fallen in love with every aspect of this field. In fact, as a double major in Environmental Studies and Communication Studies I feel TOO in love with it. I have a year left until graduation and I still managed to find myself on FGCU's degree audit page to see how much longer I would be in school if I decided to completely change my major to Marine Science. Seems excessive, right? But that's the truth. This class has opened my eyes to the countless opportunities available to us if we decide this is the journey we wish to continue. While I won't be changing my majors because it's simply not realistic, I know that my options are still open. Whether I decide to shift my focus to include more research or head towards a path that takes me into policy where I can affect change (as Sarah Sullivan said: all this science is cool but it does not matter unless we can affect change) I know that I will always be in a career that makes happy and will never be boring.

Photo credit: Amanda Schaaf

Thank you to all of the incredible professors and students I have met throughout this incredible journey. We are the leaders of tomorrow, and I am beyond excited to see what the future has in store for us. I am humbled to be a part of such a dynamic group of people. This field means getting down and dirty, and that's the part I love the most about it!

-Until we meet again,
Lina