UWF Final Week

On our final week, we spent our time learning about the effects fresh environments can have on the marine estuaries. We hiked through a long leaf pine national forrest to explore run off areas and pitcher plant areas. Then we took a look at the qualifications that make a river healthy and productive. We also did a sea grass sampling along the coast of Gulf Islands National Seashore. Of course the rain followed us every the entire week, so that was a little challenging to avoid. We had the opportunity to explore the EPA lab down in gulf breeze. The lab was a lot of fun to see all the equipment they deploy, and what it all does. My favorite part was seeing all the test they are doing with various animals. They have fresh water and saltwater fish, as well as different species of amphibians. We got to look at all the different ways they are experimenting with corals like, ocean acidification and pH alterations. This was definitely the most tiresome of all the weeks with the amount of hiking and physical activities done to accomplish each task.