1. Tomoka State Park Research:
In Dr. Linda Walters Advanced Marine Biology course, a few classmates and I grouped up to lead a restoration for 200 feet of the Tomoka State Park shoreline. Hurricane Irma impacted the shoreline back in September of 2017. The vegetation was uprooted or torn apart, and the sand and shells were displaced. We were lead by Dr. Walters, Dr. Melinda Donnelly, and graduate student Suzanne Connor to guide us in the right direction to working up to the event and on the event day itself. They showed us how to monitor the area, providing another restoration to show us how to run our event on the day of, and getting the plants and shell bags together. We entered this project and presented at the Service-Learning Showcase (a showcase to address involvement in a community) and the Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence (SURE, a showcase to present a research project) at the end of the Spring 2018 semester.
The Tomoka State Park Research Team
2. Research Project into Coral Reefs:
While taking the course Principles of Marine Biology, my group and I went into a third grade class at Galileo School for the Gifted with information we learned about coral reefs to share with the kids. The importance of coral reefs can effect the animals, ecosystems, and the ocean and we presented the fun facts to the third grade class. Along with showing them a short presentation, we had them build a kids version of a coral reef and plant marsh grass, in addition to playing a coral reef themed trivia game. At the end of the Spring 2017 semester, we participated in the Service-Learning Showcase, where we talked about how we made an impact on the class. During the time we spent in the class, each child was excited about us coming to talk to them. While we helped them build their coral reef projects, they would tell us stories of their experiences with coral reefs or what their favorite animals were.
Our Service-Learning Poster for the Coral Reef Project
Artifact 3: Interpretive Trail of Sustainability:
I finished working on my minor for my undergraduate degree with the course Capstone for Environmental Studies. In this course, everyone was split into groups to work on one of the various projects the Office of Sustainability has students helping with. My group of three worked on an Interpretive Trail to provide the campus with information on sustainability and how the campus is making an impact on sustainability. With the information we suggested for the signs, we hoped to spread how UCF has improved their buildings, students, and their campus. We had the trail walk from one point of campus through the other side, with stops along the way explaining how each location has an impact on the campus. While surveying many students on campus, we learned that most do not know about the sustainability initiatives. However, they learned about initiatives such as Knights Pantry (a funded program to help students with limited funds), shuttles, LEED, and the bike share.
Group Picture while collecting data for the Interpretive Trail
