Indian River Lagoon: Personal Statement

As decades continued to pass by the wetlands change. "People have begun to realize that wetlands are valuable and productive ecosystems that fulfill an essential function for both humans and wildlife. Due to their unique characteristics, wetlands can support a wide diversity of plants, mammals, reptiles, birds and fish. They also control floodwaters and protect us from storms and hurricanes. Wetlands also improve water quality by filtering, cleaning and storing water. Lastly, many people rely on wetlands for their livelihood, as they are important centers for hunting, fishing and recreation." Referring to this from "Wetlands and Habitat Loss", we now see how wetlands are valuable and helpful to the ecosystem. The wetlands are known for our water source. Many people depend on the Everglades for a water source. We also use the Everglades for activities. These activities include fishing, recreation, and

In another report by Kessler et al., (2013) the possibility of analyzing a variety of restoration methods will help to determine a cost effective plan. This means that the restoration of roosting and feeding grounds for the sandhill cranes can be achieved if numerous methods are first explored. In addition to exploring a variety of restoration methods the combination of public agencies and private individuals will promote restoration and conservation efforts. A restoration project along the Dolores River in southwestern Colorado and eastern Utah that combined the public and private sectors created a program that could share ideas, finances, and other vital planning decisions (Oppenheimer et al.,

Besides work, I have also been involved in my school’s marching band and the girl’s ice hockey team all throughout high school. These are both very time-consuming, but I appreciate every minute I have put in because I have gained much more out of my participation in these groups. Music is something I’m very dedicated to and my time in marching band has greatly attributed to my proficiency on the saxophone as well as my leadership experience because I served as the section leader this last year. My time in both of these activities has also enhanced my teamwork skills and I have made many new friends in my four years. UWL can benefit from these commitments because I plan to continue playing music at the university with participation in the marching band and even if I do not continue in hockey, I will still carry with me the characteristics I have developed. Along with these, I have also put in a lot of time as a student leader at my youth group which has helped me to establish my leadership ability as well. With these commitments as well as various clubs and volunteering, i am pretty busy, but this has greatly improved my time management skills. Especially with AP classes, it can be difficult to participate in extracurricular activities and still make time for schoolwork, but I learned to use every part of my day efficiently and keep up with everything I have going on. This will be very important as I progress in college and I have harder classes and other things to keep track of. Overall, the different activities I participate in have been preparing me for my future and UWL can benefit from everything I have gained throughout my various

Exercise Lab 1. How much does temperature vary in large and small aquatic environments? Lab 2. What determines the water clarity of lakes, rivers and oceans? Lab 3. Where does the phosphorus go? Lab 4. How does human activity in watersheds affect the quality of lakes and rivers? Lab 5. Are the Great Lakes being influenced by the global greenhouse effect? Lab 6. How is the flow of the Red Cedar River influenced by the weather? Lab 7. What is the relationship between flow and turbidity in the Red Cedar River? Page 2 4 6 8 12 15 18

On October 6th 2015, the students of Mattawan’s AP Environmental class took a trip to the local stream of the Mattawan Consolidated Schools area. The purpose of this trip was to conduct a stream study to determine the health, conditions, and pollution levels of this small body of water. A multitude of factors came into play when making a judgement on the stream’s health, and making sure to take all of these essential points was crucial to the study. A variety of thorough experiments were conducted to help make this overlying conclusion, as many students adopted many roles in the study. Students used a physical survey form, water test data sheet, and taxa recording sheet to record their findings. Teamwork was essential in making sure all of this information could be found accurately and efficiently. The combination of all of the final results allowed the class to make a judgement of the stream’s state.

These great sceneries have the power to inspire a great many of people to conserve and protect the natural environment that Florida has to offer. These trees and waterways have a great potential, in that they have the ability to inspire the next generation of scientists and policy writers, simply because they enjoyed walking through the park during their childhoods. This is extremely important, as ecology directly involves how people interact with their environment based off of the knowledge and respect they have for it.

To assist with conversation, the Everglades have been divided by the government into two regions with two purposes. The northern area is reserved for agriculture, primarily sugarcane, and the lower portion has been turned into a historical national park (“Why Should I..”, 2013). The parts that are not included in the preservation constantly face battles against development and even more destruction; thousands of miles of the Everglades are not included in or protected by it’s natural park status. Only 22 of the 56 endangered species are protected in the national parks (Sart, 2015).

Louisiana’s Gulf Coast is eroding into the sea, and by 2100 most of Southeast Louisiana could be completely underwater. Not only does this threaten human and animal habitats, but also the energy, shipping, fishing, and tourist industries that have made this region of the U.S. a valuable part of the national economy (Marshall, 2014). In the past 200 years, half of the nation’s wetland habitats have been lost due to natural and manmade processes. Louisiana’s wetlands make up 40 percent of the total wetlands in the continental United States. 80 percent of losses, nationally, are of Louisiana’s coast (Williams).

Everglades, the largest subtropical wetland of North America, has encountered anthropogenic perturbation since the last quarter of 19th century when canals were built and peatlands were drained for economic gain (Godfrey and Catton, 2011). Since then, the system has been exploited, drained, polluted and changed from its natural setup to escalate and widen the potential services from it. The present state is a highly regulated system to buttress economic productivity and fulfill several regional demands. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, one of the world’s largest restoration initiative, aims to restore, protect and preserve the water resources of central and southern Florida (National Research Council, 2014). While the restoration program is built on a foundation of retrospective science backed by several years of sophisticated research on understanding the Everglades and similar ecosystem (Estenoz and Bush, 2015), the human dimension of restoration was not studied adequately(Clarke and Dalrymple, 2003; Kranzer, 2002; National Research Council, 2014). Particularly, the spatial extent of residents’ preference or the heterogeneity of their opinion is important for CERP as the plan aims to restore ecosystem without compromising the present services (e.g. flood control, water for agricultural, urban and industrial uses etc.), which are also spatially related.

Thousands of dead fish are floating belly up for miles, up and down the Indian River Lagoon. Protesters gathered together in Cocoa Beach on Saturday to gain attention and help raise awareness about the alarming fish kill in the Indian River Lagoon.

Cardno has assembled for you a team of experts in aquatic ecology, hydrologic modeling, data management and interpretation, statistical analysis, botany, wetland science, wildlife ecology, restoration, Geographic Information Systems, and environmental planning. Staff from our Tallahassee office, where this project will be managed, have successfully completed hundreds of projects in northwest Florida including contracts with the District, as well as the Suwannee River Water Management District, state agencies, and other municipal clients. Many of the staff included in this proposal are experts in their respective fields with advanced degrees and decades of experience working in water resources in Florida.

One of such resources that are exploited by a human being is south Florida ecosystem in the Kissimmee-Okeechobee-Everglades ecosystem is water resource. Most of the water in the river the Kissimmee and Lake Okeechobee have been converted to the canal of agricultural water. As a result, ecosystem within the river and lake- terrestrial ecosystem was destroyed as some of the surrounding wetland were destroyed and this destruction had an impact on the survival of the ecosystems without sufficient flowing water to support it. The result of this destruction was the loss of 20,000 acres of the wetlands. Another exploitation that occurs in this ecosystem is clearing of forest for timbers used for construction and agricultural land (Kiker, C. F., Milon, J. W., & Hodges, A. W.

My decision to pursue graduate study and research in the field of ecology comes from my aspiration to become a leading researcher. I feel that the knowledge what I have gained in this field is little. Therefore, to help me acquire a better understanding of this multi-faceted field of ecology, I would like to pursue my doctoral degree major in ecology.

“Conservation refers to actions that aim to protect natural environments from present and future change. For example, nature conservancies purchase land that is deemed to be at risk in order to prevent exploitation of the area for residential, industrial, or agricultural development” (“Conservation,” 2009). Environmental conservation in the Tampa Bay area carries a great importance because of our natural resources with estuaries for wildlife and the aquifer, which supplies clean water to residents in the area. Tampa Bay residents interested in environmental conservation, have access to a variety of