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This week, students gained a hands-on appreciation for the “field” in The School for Field Studies as they completed two days of intensive Directed Research and the Tropical Marine Habitat Assessment. The research projects are taking shape nicely and students are doing a great job honing their methods and building the data set. One student in the reef modeling project even remarked, “I’m more comfortable diving upside down looking at corals than horizontal!”

For the Tropical Marine Habitat Assessment, student teams investigated: 1) bleaching prevalence on a coral reef, 2) soil chemistry and canopy cover of a mangrove forest, and 3) plant density and invertebrate diversity in a seagrass bed. We were more than happy to reward their hard work this week with a relaxing Saturday of snorkel and dive excursions and community outreach activities. Stay tuned for more updates!

 

Ball sponge

 

Habitat assessment

 

Mangrove field exercise. Photo courtesy of Annabelle Feist

 
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