Hiking at SRS

Class today was at SRS field station. We went to look at wetlands and do some GIS exercises. We started in the classroom getting information about how to use the GPS unit ans other things need for the Hike.We then walked as one group into the forest with the GPS units for guidance. The GPS units were to be used to find a wetland area at cracker neck. When we got to the area where the wetland was, we noticed it was dry. we learned that a wetland area can be wet or dry depending on the season. We found another wetland area that was not completely dry. This black water swamp gave us the opportunity to see all the features of a wetland area. It was extremely hot today but it was definitely a fun trip.

Phinizy Swamp Nature Park

Today we visited Phinizy Swamp Nature Park in Augusta GA. We had a very interesting tour by our tour guide Ruth. She was awesome, showed us around the wetland and gave us plenty of information about wetlands, like how to classify a wetland. As long as there is presence of water, diversity of plants, and anaerobic soil you can classify a piece of land as a wetland. After the discussion we had the opportunity to get in the water and gather samples to test and compile wether the creek was healthy or not.








After we gathered the samples it was determined that the creek was healthy. The pH was fairly neutral at 6.3 and it had an ample amount of diversity of species. After the creek we ate lunch and took a tour of the man made wetlands that are amazingly used for waste water treatment. This reduces the need for chemicals used at water plants. The natural microorganisms and bacterias in the wetlands decomposes some impurities in the water. So the water from the wetlands is pumped into the water plants which is then put back into our water systems.

Today was very educational. I have never visited a wetland, i think it was fun.

LIbrary

Today we had the first part of our class in the library. We learnt how to get informations we need for our research papers which we would be turning in at the end of the program. The library was very helpful, we were able to get articles and books from the university's online library data base. The library had some interesting gadgets that would be useful to you in getting what ever informations you needed. Still looking forward to the trip to the zoo.

4th of July

This day is going to be one of my memorable days in Aiken. Our professors made it fun for us, we played volley ball, we had a nice cookout, with a lot of food, we had cup cakes, then we went swimming. Later at night we had fireworks, it was a great day especially to those of us that had no plans. Thank you Dr. Ck and Dr. Wierda.

First day of Class (USC AIKEN)

Today we went to the Savannah river site but not to do much, we talked about the class, the syllabus and field trips which we would be taking. We also did a tour on the site, to places we would be doing our research on. This was my first time on the site, and i would say it is a big one, i just hope the bugs would not be a problem.

More fun at dinner

More fun from our dinner at our professors house.

Dinner at Dr. Klotz House

We had dinner at our professors house after our last class. This was just to round up everything and have a little last chat amongst ourselves. We had a lot of last fun together, and the food was very good.