Artifacts

I am presenting three artifacts that are examples of what I have worked on while attending Stockton College.  It is within these assignments where I learned to efficiently organize and articulate my research in a clear, concise manner as well as perform real, hands on experience in the field. 

Artifact #1

In my Ecological Principles class, it was required that we learn how to construct and use, as well as understand the importance of a life table.  Populations (of any species) possess characteristics that an individual does not, such as density, birth rate, death rate, age structure, growth rates, a sex ratio, and fecundity.  Life tables have the ability to present all of this data in an easily understood format.  The life tables we focused on consisted of death rates of the female Homo sapiens.  All of the data came from www.interment.net, a database devoted entirely to cemetery records across the world.  The cemeteries I chose to sample from are located in Schuylkill, Lebanon, and Bucks counties, in Pennsylvania.  It was important to obtain no less than 150 samples from each cemetery, for both time periods from 1850-1910 and 1946-2003.  I was conscious of picking a time period during which mortality data was not likely to change, for example, due to World World II.  

In order to glean female birth rates and death rates between those specific time periods, it was required to systemize very large, messy lists of data. Strangely enough, I enjoyed the tediousness of using Microsoft Excel to sort through over hundreds of rows of data; the organizational aspect of cleaning up and omitting extraneous and unimportant information was very therapeutic.  The life tables were created using many different values and calculations.  In order to create a visual guide for the mortality rates, I also learned how to create graphs from the life tables.  Having the skill to assemble and understand life tables and charts, as well as their graph counterparts, is very important because most, if not all, scientific reports and peer-reviewed articles rely heavily on these types of representational diagrams.

Artifact #2

I wrote a paper for my Invasive Species Ecology class.  This research paper is only one example of many research papers I have written during the course of my college career. Our task was to thoroughly research any invasive species of our choosing; I picked Didymosphenia geminata, commonly known as Didymo, or Rock Snot (my personal favorite).  Didymo is a freshwater diatom, native to mountainous, boreal regions in the Northern Hemisphere.  Didymo thrives in oligotrophic waters; invasive blooms can be found in Canada, the United States, Patagonia, and most notably, documented in 2004, in New Zealand.  The biggest offender as a vector for didymo are felt soled waders, which are now banned in New Zealand, Maryland, Vermont, and Alaska! I discovered, since didymo can not be eradicated once established, it can only be managed through public awareness campaigns.  Educational programs truly do make a difference if people respect them. 

This assignment exemplifies my ability to coagulate information from many different sources and present it in a uniform, organized fashion.  Writing papers also taught me how to effectively manage my time while taking heed of deadlines and balancing other coursework.  I am not familiar with algae in any regard so learning about Rock Snot was positively fascinating! 

Artifact #3

Atlantic White Cedar stand in Wharton State Forest, NJ (3/2012)

My senior project directly evaluates how White-tailed Deer impact Atlantic White Cedar saplings.  My job is to count cedar saplings within and outside of fenced exclosures; in order to do that, I set out on foot and navigate the swamps.  I have learned that Atlantic White Cedar is a near threatened species of tree whose contiguous stands are rapidly declining because of increase in sea level, salt intrusion, and habitat destruction. These contiguous stands of trees offer a unique environment that supports a whole host of specialist species; needless to say, without these trees an entire ecosystem is at peril. I take pride in collecting the crucial data needed to understand the impact deer are having on my local forests.  Sometimes, if I am not being overly cautious, I am unfortunate enough to fall into the swamp.  Being cold and wet is not fun at all but, to put it bluntly, it's at time like these where I learned to suck it up. Less than ideal field conditions are ever-present but, thanks to my experience, I am confident that I am capable of navigating my next metaphorical swamp.