Service Learning with the Indian Riverkeepers, Fort Pierce, FL

Although when I turned in my service learning forms with a description of stuffing envelopes for the Indian Riverkeepers, I truly did so much more than that.

     On my first day of service learning, I was stuffing envelopes, I was sitting with many different members of the organization, who were telling me about what it is exactly that they do. That is where I learned most about the organization. I was told that the lagoon is being destroyed by discharge water coming from a local community. I didn’t really understand the legality portion of how that was legal, but the river keepers assured me that it was (even though it was very wrong). 

         My second day of service to the Riverkeepers was a bit more involved than stuffing envelopes. (I did not get my service learning for signed for this, because I decided to do this service as an additional service project since I had already received my ten hours from stuffing envelopes).  I had a connection with someone on the board of directors of the Indian River Keepers, and she allowed me to go on the River Keeper Patrol Boat. On the boat, we rode around in the river, looking for trash and other items that may become harmful to the animals living in and around the water. 

            I truly enjoyed myself the past few days. I would love to continue to help the Indian Riverkeepers whenever I have the chance and whenever I am in town.

READING # 17: Love It or Lose It: The Coming Biophilia Revolution

Biophobia is just as it sounds; being discomforted by the outside natural world after being exposed to the environment for too long. Biophilia is the complete opposite; being “loving” to the outside natural world and the environment. I don’t know that I could totally commit to experiencing either one of these extremes; I think I fall somewhere in the middle, a little closer to the biophilia side of the spectrum. I love the outdoors. I love being outside, and breathing the fresh air…but I can’t say that I could do that all the time. There is a certain point to which I cannot be outside…whether that is because I live in Florida and sometimes the heat is unbearable, or because I have been spoiled with air conditioning, technology and electricity.

As of right now, I don’t think I can honestly say that I think there is a coming biophilia revolution. I think that yes, it is definitely a possibility for the future though. If the world keeps pushing the idea of “go green”, and we continue to educate the world on the environment a biophilia revolution is totally possible. Although I don’t think this would happen for a while I truly hope there is a revolution of people coming to love the environment. I think that one of the first steps that we need to take as a planet is to GET OUR NEXT GENERATION OUTSIDE. We need to show children that there is fun in playing outside, and that to have fun we don’t need electronics. This will be a gradual change, that will hopefully take place soon.

PERSONAL JOURNAL #5 - Exit Reflection on Accomplishment

At the beginning of the semester, I honestly think all I wanted was to get this class out of the way, with a decent grade. I wasn’t expecting to learn as much as I did through an online course. I have achieved much more than I could have hoped for throughout this semester. I realized how much one person (such as myself) really effects the environment. I have learned to become more observant of my surroundings than I have ever been in my entire life. I have learned to appreciate the things around me, and in the environment. I have also shared this knowledge with the people around me. I have realized that I need to change the way I live so I can impact the environment in a less harmful way. I am more than pleased with what I have accomplished throughout the semester. I can’t even begin to describe how much I have gained from this course. 

Personal Journal #4 - My Personal Land Ethic

My attitude and awareness of the environment has definitely changed because of my colloquium experience. I feel like I begin to look at things with a little more meaning. I recognize parts of the environment better than I have before. I look at the world around me more carefully and with a more observant eye than I did before I took this class. I really enjoy what the colloquium experience has given to me.

Today I laid out by the pool, and brought a good book along with me. Before I started reading it, I just kind of sat there and took in the environment that was surrounding me. Today it was really smoky from the fires in the surrounding counties. I was unable to stay outside very long because of that): Other than the smoke, it was sunny out; there were a few clouds in the distance, and a nice breeze. Today literally was the perfect summer day. Thanks for colloquium, I really observe and take note of the things going on in the environment around me, more than I ever have before.  Next to the pool where I was sitting is a small pond. I could just barely see the top of the pond, but when I looked out onto the pond, I just barely saw a turtle! A few minutes later I decided to get up and get a better look. Although I scared the turtle away, I noticed something different. Since the lake was indeed manmade, and was along a row of apartment buildings, it was so littered. There were beer bottles everywhere, plastic bags, and just a bunch of trash.

That really upset me, and prompted me to go into the office and ask if there is ever a cleanup of the pond. The lady at the front desk told me no, that there were never cleanups. I asked if there was something I could do to help, and she honestly was so rude in telling me that the mess in the lake was not my concern…

I don’t want to go against what my apartment complex told me ( I don’t want to get in trouble). But I definitely want to do something to help clean up this heavily polluted pond.. 

You can kind of see the little turtles sitting on the ledge of the drainage sewer. I didn't want to get any closer and scare them away. 

It is really hard to tell in the picture, but in this shot the water looks extremely abnormally green.

You can kind of see the awkward tint of the water. There is also a bunch of bottles and bags at the bottom of the water, but I couldn't capture them in the photo):

In the center of the shot, there is a white "blur". That blur is a chip bag sitting at the bottom of the pond, right next to a beer bottle.

This is a view from the side of the pond; it looks extremely nice until you see the actual color of the water and the amount of pollution that is at the bottom of the pond.

Reading #16- The Earth Charter

I would definitely sign in support of the Earth Charter. I don’t think we as individuals on planet Earth do enough to conserve it, and the Earth Charter is sort of a “non binding” contract that does just that. I feel that if people were to sign in support of the Earth Charter, if they even just followed half of the duties that the charter suggests to follow our planet would be in much better shape than it is.

At first I was a little unsure because there was one principle in particular that I was not sure was “valid”. One principle guarantees potable water, clean air, food security, uncontaminated soil, shelter, and safe sanitation. Well, we all know that no one person can guarantee all of that to a person. Not even a large group of people could guarantee that to a person; there are organizations trying to make that guarantee for people and it just isn’t plausible. But I read on to where it said that this principle would only be plausible if the national and international resources were available. That statement put my mind at ease.

Overall, I like and support what the Earth Charter is trying to do. It is trying to create a more sound, conservative, sustainable environment for those who live on the planet now, those who will live on the planet in the future, and the variety of plant and animal species that help make our planet what it is.

Reading #15 - The Land Ethic

At first when thinking about the term land ethic, I thought of a person being ethical to the land. Maybe not cutting down as many trees, conserving a few more resources, or something simple like that. But as I began to read further into Leopold’s article, I realized that land ethic is much more than that. Leopold describes the basic idea of land ethic, as being "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." To elaborate on this, for an individual to have land ethic, that person must care more about the land (referred to as the biotic community throughout the article), than just preserving it a little bit. People need to be more dedicated to preserving our environment, in a more ethical way.

Within the reading there was one line that stood out to me more than the rest. “…we still slip two steps backward for each forward stride”. To me, this is one of the truest statements throughout the entire article. I thought about this statement in comparison to my life and the lives of people that I know. For example, when I moved to FGCU as a freshman, I was gung ho about recycling, because the school made it so easy. There were recycling centers everywhere, so of course I would recycle. (That was my forward stride). This summer, when I moved into an apartment with different people, in a different area of the state at a different school where recycling centers were not offered, I have barely recycled at all. It is not that I have no intentions to do so, it is just that it is not as easily accessible to me, so it makes it harder for me to want to do it. (My two steps back). When I return to FGCU in the fall, I am positive that I will begin recycling again (thus starting the cycle over again). I know that I am not the only person who lives this way. I also know that this isn’t how I should be living, but I am living and learning!

Personal Journal #3- The Wonders and Realities of the World

Earlier this morning I went to my statistics class, and relieved some stress. I figured what a better time to experience the wonders and realities of the world than when I am relaxed and relieved. Out of nowhere, the sky opened up, releasing rain and little bits of hail, yes HAIL onto my car. I sat in my car in front of my apartment, not wanting to get out. (Because really, who would want hail to nail them on the head). So I sat there, frustrated for a bit. The hail passed and I went inside. 

A couple hours later, the sun started to come out, so I went back outside to try yet again to experience the wonders and realities of the world. Well, mother nature didn't want that to happen. As soon as I find a comfy spot to sit in (with my cat sitting with me), the apartment complex's landscaping crew showed up and asked me to move, because they were going to be chopping down trees and large branches and didn't want me to get hit with any of them...so again, I had to put my relaxation time to a halt.

What I thought to be my final attempt at sitting in peace and dryness didn't turn out so well. I decided that sitting on my back porch would just have to do for this reflection. WELL. The neighbors didn't want me to do that.... apparently someone next door to me stole money from a friend, and that friend was now at their door, with the cops, screaming and threatening my neighbor. The cop told me to go inside until the situation was under control.

It was then that I realized, not only did I experience a ton of wonders and realities in nature today from the rain, hail, thunder and wind from the storm, and the trees being cut back so they could flourish better than they had been, but i experience the reality of craziness with neighbors. 

I finally got to sit outside, just as the sun was going down, and the neighbors had quieted. I snapped a couple of pictures to sum up my day.

(Above and Below) These are some of  the branches that were cut down from the landscaping crew. 

You can kind of see that the pavement was still a bit wet from the afternoon thunderstorms...as well as the amount of leaves and little flowers that were blown out of the woods from the storm earlier today.

This is my cat who kept me company today while I was trying to experience the wonders and realities of the world, when in reality my whole day was full of wonders and I just didn't notice it.

Parking Ticket ):

The parking ticket I received from UNF when I was trying to complete my Agricultural Field Trip):

Field Trip: Agricultural Field Trip - UNF Butterfly Garden / VERB (Herb Garden with Vegetables) Garden, Jacksonville, FL

Even though there was not as many herbs and vegetables as I hoped there would be, I still think I got a pretty good idea as to how agriculture effects the Jacksonville area. For the most part, the area was mainly a butterfly garden, which don’t get me wrong, was really awesome, but was not so much “agricultural”. I learned different types of plants that attracted butterflies, and different plants that may deter the butterflies away. I also saw a couple of plants that were (supposed) to be growing peppers, and tomatoes. Overall, I enjoyed my agricultural experience, but I really wish it would have been more agricultural, and more of what I was expecting.

Although it is hard to see, there really are a few squash on there! 

The tomato plant barely had any tomatoes, but at least there were a couple!!

Field Trip: Freshwater Environment - UNF Nature Preserve, Jacksonville, FL

Even though there was still a good amount of smoke in the air from all of the fires in the area, I had a really fun time walking around on the trails and wading in the lake. I loved seeing the osprey in the tree; it seemed that it was posing for a picture for us. Another friend of mine besides Melissa came along too and was a little more educated on the environment, and he informed me of a lot of different things about the preserve that I would not have known, had he not come with us. I really enjoyed just walking around, breathing the fresh air, and making jokes with my friends all while experiencing what nature has to offer.

This was such a cool thing on the trail! It was like a giant sand box, that you could (hopefully) catch a glimpse of some animals prints if one happened to walk through there!

Raccoon Prints in the Tracking Box! This was super cool to see.

Field Trip: (Saltwater) Marine Environment - Jacksonville Beach, Jacksonville, FL

Besides the heavy smoke while at Jacksonville Beach, I really enjoyed experiencing the environment. I had a lot of fun watching the waves crash on the shore. I really got a chance to look at and appreciate the sand dunes, which is something that I never really take the time to look at. I was really upset that I didn’t get to see any jellyfish or turtles while I was there (because usually I see at least one of each almost every time I go), but I really think the smoke played a part in preventing me from seeing any wildlife. Overall, I really enjoyed the saltwater marine environment. 

(Above) This is an outdoor amphitheater that is owned by the city and is located right along the beach.

(Above) In this picture, you can kind of see the amount of smoke there was in the air...you can't even see the water because it is so smokey. 

(Above) This is the Jacksonville Pier; Melissa and I were unable to go onto the pier because they were doing renovations and it was temporarily closed.

Species Identification

Today, Melissa and I went on our Freshwater Field Trip Along the way, we found many different species that we have identified for the species identification portion of the course.

(Above) We found this pine cone, laying underneath a pine tree. You can also see  the pine needles located all around the cone.

(Above) Before we entered the freshwater lake, there were some minnows swimming around next to our feet.

(Above) These cat tails were located within the freshwater lake. It was really cool to see them up close!

(Above)  These were some time of small animal eggs (maybe for a certain insect?). Melissa and I could not figure out which animal they belonged to, but my best guess would be a snail or something of the sort.

(Above)  We found this snail right on the side of the freshwater lake.

(Above) This sunfish (or blue gill) was located in about 6-7 inches of water, about two feet into the lake.

(Above)  We found red lilies along one of the nature trails that was next to the lake.

(Above)  Also on the nature trail, Melissa and I stumbled upon a prickly-pear cactus.

(Above)  In the lake, we found a TON of lily pads, as well as a white lily. There were not many of the lilies in the water, just the lily pads.

(Above)  We were at the UNF Nature Preserve, and in one of the trees that was hanging over the lake, we saw an osprey. The osprey is UNF's mascot, and it was really cool to see it in it's natural environment.

(Above) There was a red-eared slider turtle swimming around in the lake. We were standing on a bridge and he actually heard us coming, and swam right up to the bridge!

(Above)  We are not really sure what type of fungus this is, but we are definitely sure it was some type of fungus or an old mushroom.

(Above)  We found poison ivy. Thank god it was a little ways off the trail, because I didn't notice it at first, and I would have hated to have rubbed up against it!

(Above)  We found sunshine mimosa right outside of the butterfly garden that Melissa and I went to.

(Above) Also outside the butterfly garden, we found coral honeysuckle. 

(Above)  We also found coontie. This is the same type of plant that was mentioned in the novel A Land Remembered.

(Above) This is just a better picture of the coontie from a different angle.