Salt Water Field Trip

Lover's Key State Park

I have lived in Naples for ten years now and I have always heard great things about Lover’s Key State Park, but have never actually been there. So, when I found out that this was one of our field trips, I got very excited! My boyfriend and I made a day out of it and went to Lover’s Key to get away and enjoy the beautiful park and beach. I grew up on the water, so whenever I get to be around it, I absolutely love it. Lover’s Key was so relaxing and it really felt like we were on a little island, with the opportunity to rent kayaks and enjoy great food while relaxing on the beach. What I loved about it was the atmosphere. I do not go to the beach that much, but when I go to the beach in Naples it is always so crowded and you can’t really enjoy the beauty and nature. While at Lover’s Key, I really felt like I could relax and enjoy my natural surroundings, maybe it was because I was more aware of it because of this class, or maybe it is meant to feel that way. The boardwalk is awesome because it allows people to walk through animal’s habitats without disturbing them, while being by the ocean. The idea of being able to start off your day by biking or hiking the trail, then grabbing a nice lunch and walking it off on the boardwalk after sounds amazing! And the best part of that day would be to unwind and watch the gorgeous sunset on the beach. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make that my whole day, but I still really enjoyed walking around and relaxing by the water.

When I was looking up some history about Lover’s Key, I saw that years ago is was only accessible by boat, and then eventually, in the 1960’s, they built a bridge, so more people could enjoy this wonderful place. Many people thought that it was the best place to watch the sunset and that lovers made the effort to get to this island when there was no bridge, which it how it got its name, Lover’s Key. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, the four barrier islands were scheduled for development and preparations for this development damaged the island. The mangroves were altered by dredging a canal through the island. In 1983, the state acquired the islands and in 1996, merged with Carl E. Johnson County Park and became Lover’s Key Carl E. Johnson State Park.

I actually really enjoyed paying attention to my natural surroundings because I think it made me relax more. I saw pelicans, egrets, ospreys, palm trees, and mangrove forests. Estuaries are found near river mouths where freshwater mixes with saltwater and mangrove forests are found in the intertidal zone of estuaries. Mangrove forests are made up of different types of mangrove trees and many different plants. Plants and animals adapt to living in both of these because mangroves actually serve a purpose to the water, they are so good at expelling salt that in some species the water is fit to drink! So many birds and other animals live in mangroves because it is so sheltered and safe.

This is definitely the place to go if you want to spend the day outdoors, it has everything from biking to sunbathing on the beach. It is definitely somewhere I would recommend to go to other because it is so relaxing and knowing the plants and animals are protected, makes it even more beautiful.

Urban Field Trip

          

Urban Field Trip

Downtown Fort Myers

I have visited downtown Fort Myers a few times since I have moved here and have always really enjoyed, but this past time was different because I was going there to look at the history of it. I read a few of the websites that was given to us because I wanted to have some knowledge before I went, which made it a lot more interesting. I found it very interesting that Fort Myers was one of the first forts built along the Caloosahatchee River, which was a base of operations against the Seminole Indians. Ft. Myers got its name after Colonel Abraham C. Myers. While reading all this information, all of the names were familiar to me; like Myers, Seminole. It is weird to think that a lot of the names in downtown Fort Myers came from all these people way back in the 1800’s. People started to come to Fort Myers from all over South Florida in the later 1800’s. More and more people slowly started to migrate to Ft. Myers, which is when they started to build hotels, the courthouse, etc. What was very interesting to me was that Thomas Edison visited Ft. Myers and build his home and laboratory there, I had no idea! Not only was Thomas Edison a resident here, but also the first Ford Car Dealership was opened in Fort Myers. Ever since World War II, the city has kept growing and so has the rest of Southwest Florida. The City of Fort Myers has retained a lot of its history and beauty, which is so amazing to me because a city with such life still preserves things from its past, as well as making it as beautiful as it is today. Knowing that so many buildings that I saw when I visited downtown Fort Myers have been there for years is so interesting to me. I never knew that Ft. Myers had such an interesting history. I am originally from Boston, so I am definitely used to history, but I never really took the time to see what history was behind the city that I live so close to now. It is a beautiful place and it definitely opened my eyes to things that have happened over a hundred years ago. 

Fresh Water Field Trip

I really enjoyed going to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. I liked being out in the open with nature’s beauty surrounding me, knowing that this place has so much history and is hopefully going to be protected forever. It occupies about 13,000 acres and is part of the Western Everglades. It is mostly made up of wetlands and nests all different species. One of the endangered species that the sanctuary provides habitat for is the wood stork. It also provides habitat for species like the Florida Panther, American Alligator, Gopher Tortoise, Florida Sandhill Crane, Limpkin, Roseate Spoonbill, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, White Ibis, Big Cypress Fox Squirrel, and the Florida Black Bear.

In the early 1900’s, egret and heron plumes were in high demand for use in the fashion industry, so plume hunters could make a fortune just spending a weekend hunting for egret and heron. Rhett Green was a warden at the National Audubon Society and was in charge of protecting the Corkscrew rookery. So when he found out that people were hunting for egret and heron just so women could wear their feathers, they started a campaign to stop that demand for the plumes, which was successful, so the plume hunters went away and it became a protected area. I think that it is great how this happened so long ago and it is still in affect today. People are continuing to protect this land and the wildlife in it, and now people can go and see the natural beauty of it.

Corkscrew swamp is very flat and is only 17 feet above sea level. It is very rainy during hurricane season, which is June through September and sometimes extends through November. When rainy season ends, the water is constantly evaporating into the atmosphere and being taken up by plans and soaked into the soil. Fish eventually get trapped in the small pools and birds start to come around which inspires nesting, this typically last from October to May.

There is a unique system called the Living Machine. It is used to purify wastes without additives, and recycles 90 percent of the purified water back into the restrooms for reuse in the toilets. I think that this is very clever because this place is trying to conserve nature and I think by inventing something like this shows that they are trying to reuse water.

Overall, I found the whole experience very beautiful and interesting to see something with so much history. 

FGCU Campus Field Trip

One thing that really interests me about Florida Gulf Coast University is how eco-friendly they are. FGCU is known for being a green and environmentally friendly university. There is a lot of wildlife around campus, as well as solar compactors and recycling bins.  FGCU also is equipped with filtered water and has a strategic campus design.

The wildlife on campus ranges from all different kinds of birds to alligators. This definitely keeps the students entertained, but is also teaching them to live closely in the same environment with living animals.

I think that the solar compactors and recycling bins are a great addition to campus. There is a recycling bin next to most trash cans all around campus. This encourages students and professors to recycle and help take little steps to help the environment. In many buildings, there are even separated bins for plastic, paper, and waste. The trash compactor reduces the number of times the unit has to be emptied, which prevents animals from getting into the trash.

FGCU is doing a lot to help the environment, and a huge way is reducing the amount of water bottles used. They installed spigots to many of the water fountains all around campus to make it easier for teachers and students to refill their water bottles. This drastically reduces the amount of plastic water bottles. The water also goes through rigorous tests a couple times every month to ensure students that the water they are drinking is clean and safe.

Like I said before, FGCU is crawling with wildlife and the only way the plants and animals can keep their homes is if the campus is designed not to intrude. FGCU is definitely growing and new parking garages and buildings have already been built and I am sure that there will be more to come. FGCU keeps this out of the way of the plants and animals by building around it and even over it. There are many boardwalks that are surrounded with different habitats, which is beautiful to look at, but also keep the plants and animals safe from all the ruckus on campus. 

I have never really been one to do everything I can to help the environment, but I feel by just attending Florida Gulf Coast University, I am helping the environment in many ways.

Service Learning

Going on my the tour at ECHO was definitely life-changing because I got to see the struggles that people go through on a daily basis, just to have some food to eat. This gave me a whole new appreciation of farmers and ECHO because they are doing everything they can to help. I definitely would love to volunteer my time here because I know it will be going to a good cause. 

Agricultural Field Trip

ECHO is a non-profit organization, located in Fort Myers, Florida, that not only has helped, but has been reducing hunger for over 30 years. There are over 925 million people in the world that are hungry and ECHO is dedicated to reducing that number drastically. ECHO gathers solutions from around the world to ‘promote sustainable farming techniques, nutritional plants, and appropriate technologies.’ “Our (ECHO’s) purpose is to help those who are teaching farmers around the world know how to be more effective in producing enough to meet the needs of their families and their communities.” What I thought was very interesting about ECHO, is that they didn’t go and tell people what to do, they research about each place they are helping and teach them specific techniques to be more sustainable in their specific area. What I thought was very interesting is how they recycle almost everything that they grow, and that is what they are teaching these underprivileged farmers and communities to do. They now have opened impact centers in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and Arusha, Tanzania, and they are only expanding.

Our tour guide, Russ, was very helpful and explained a lot about each section of the farm. In the picture above, he was teaching us about the Katuk shrub, and we even tried a leaf while we were standing there. We also tried a few more leaves throughout the tour.

There were so many different plants that I have never even heard of before, but apparently are packed with so many nutrients that we could all use in our every day diet. We learned about moringa, which is high in protein, vitamins, and minerals, and is considered one of the most nutritious vegetables in the world. Another plant that we saw was neem, which is also known as “Nature’s Pharmacy.” “To summarize its beneficial qualities in a nutshell, neem possesses powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-tumor, and broad spectrum antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiparasitic properties that help prevent formation of abnormal cells, eliminate infections, and accelerate healing in a broad range of health problems.”    –Dr. Mitchell A. Fleisher

We were one of the lucky groups because at the end of our tour we got to sit down and listen to the President and CEO of ECHO, Stan Doerr. He was so interesting to listen to because he was so passionate about what he does and helping people. He definitely inspired me and made me want to do whatever I can to help, which is why I plan to volunteer my time to help the members at ECHO help people around the world.