Variety Hour with Dr. Bui
ENVS 4010: Applied Ecology
There is such a thing as spending too much time in a classroom and many lessons are better understood outdoors.
"Science is messy!" - Dr. Bui
Before heading out to explore Louisiana's ecology, we were tasked with designing our own class experiments for each field trip:
- What data collection is possible?
- What questions can we ask? Are they broad or narrow?
- What are the logistics: permits, vehicles, equipment needed?
- How many samples do we want? How many can we reasonably get?
- What kind of sampling effort is possible?
- How about sampling methods?
- An inexhaustable list!
Use the navigation bar at the top or continue scrolling to learn more about our field trip fun, the lessons learned, and how we communicated our new knowledge.
Module I
How ecologists go fishing
We spent a Tuesday discussing what we might encounter in the lakes and what data would be necessary to answer questions about the fish and their habitat. With cast nets, minnow traps, measuring boards, scales, and fish ID guides all packed, we headed over to the University Lakes .
This first set of field trips dirtied our hands with shad slime and encouraged communication between classmates for proper data collection.
A crucial aspect of these trips was being told where to look, not what to see. That part was left up to us.
Left: Total number of each species capture; right: total weight of each species captured
In all our fun, we caught, measured, and weighed 76 fish; gizzard shad and sunfish comprising the bulk.
Click the graphics below to zoom in and learn more about our most captured!
Thanks to Marco Marvelli for providing his partnered fishy deliverables
Despite our 9 hours of effort, we only scraped the surface of a freshwater lake system.
Parts of a Whole The left side shows who we caught during at the University Lakes. Interact with the slider to explore a typical Louisiana freshwater lake trophic web
Module II
Leaf bag process illustrated by Madelyn Grooms
At the beginning of the semester, we collected leaves, weighed and stuffed them in mesh bags, and patiently waited to retrieve them with hopes that 1) we could measure decomposition, and 2) new critters would call our litter bags "home." While some students placed their bags in "safe" areas...others ended up with flooded bags, invisible bags, and even lawn-mowed bags.
From left to right: initial dry placement (1) and after hurricane Ida (2). This resulted in wet leaves and plenty of snails.
Once leaf litter bags were retrieved, we spent several days sorting and identifying the insects who took refuge in our leaves.
Courtesy of Madelyn Grooms
Everyone got practice using dichotomous keys to identify the critters.
Sometimes it even felt like a game ;)
Dichotomy - 1 December 2021
Module III
Exploring patterns (correctly and incorrectly)
As the weather cooled off and we spent more time in lecture, we began to dive deeper into effective communication of graphical analyses. Dr. Bui gathered a range of visual abstracts, accurately titled "The good, the bad, and the ugly," for us to critique. This open discussion highlighted just how differently data can be interpreted through different eyes.
(Request and insert the deliverable below as slideshow). These plots all represent the same data. See how many different ways you can interpret them!
An eye-opening presentation by Emily Clarke showing how one set of data can be represented and misrepresented
Module IV
Many datasets are available publicly as well. From public health to biodiversity, the internet is full of data for anyone to access. Click the screen below to explore some conservation data or start your own search here !
Biodiversity Conservation and Protected Areas
Communication
To communicate field trip and lesson experiences, students are tasked with creating an associated "deliverable." While many classes require 10-slide, 10-minute PowerPoint presentations, ENVS 4010 encourages out of the box thinking and use of creative platforms to give dissemination of knowledge the variety it deserves. You already explored some of our deliverables, now check out the rest and let the inspiration flow!
Additional deliverables provided by Fall 2021 ENVS 4010 students
