UF Semester of Immersion 2022
An intensive program offered by the UF's Biology Department. In a program's course, students meet daily for 5-weeks to immerse themselves in field or laboratory research pertaining to ecology.
DBH
Sandhill Crane in Sweetwater Wetland Park
Gopher tortoise burrow
DBH
01/05/2022 - 02/08/2022
Field Ecology and Data Analysis
During this course, I actively engaged in the assessment of tree diameters at breast height (DBH) within the Upland Hardwoods region of the University of Florida's (UF) Natural Area Teaching Lab.
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Additionally, I traveled to Ordway-Swisher Biological Station in Melrose, FL and assisted in recording gopher tortoise burrow activity with my team members. I also learned about the Longleaf Pine Savanna ecosystem and the role prescribed burns play in maintaining the ecosystem's health. Furthermore, I had the opportunity to observe a prescribed burn firsthand.
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Next, I took part in identifying Florida birds in Sweetwater Wetland Park and used R programming to analyze the relationship between behavior and vegetation cover of Ardeidae (e.g., herons, egrets) in a specific habitat.
02/09/2022 - 03/15/2022
Desert Biodiversity
I traveled across the U.S. Southwest desert ecosystems, ranging from Death Valley to Organ Pipe National Monument. I uploaded observations of desert animals and plants on the citizen science website iNaturalist. I also studied the various galls found on the Creosote bush and other desert plants.
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Me in Death Valley
Spider found in desert
Me in Death Valley
On a hike in California
My team members walking
On a hike in California
03/16/2022 - 04/19/2022
Biome Biodiversity
I explored a variety of ecoregions across the U.S. including the Florida scrub, Appalachian–Blue Ridge forests, and the U.S. Pacific Northwest temperate rainforest. In these locations, I would use sweep netting techniques and transect sampling to determine the arthropod populations in different plant populations.