Guest Blogger--Adrienne Smith

To keep you all updated on the Summer Intern Program, we have asked the interns to serve as guest bloggers from time to time. Here is a re-cap week two,of the SIP courtesy of Adrienne Smith:
We spent the first week of June at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. We went on an airboat trip around the Refuge with Nick Aumen and Rolf Olson. It was interesting to notice the change in the types of plants from the canal to the inner region of the marsh. We also saw a snail kite! The snail kite was certainly a highlight of the day.
We also met with Lisa Jameson and Grant Gifford from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Lisa discussed the various invasive species that are problems in the Refuge and Grant talked about the use of fire as a land management tool. Dylan, in particular, was fascinated with the “fire-blowing” technique that can be used in fire application.
We toured the Loxahatchee Impoundment Landscape Assessment (LILA) with Dr. Tom Dreschel and Eric Cline of the South Florida Water Management. I loved the idea of having an “artificial wetland” that resembles the original Florida Everglades landscape for research experiments. What a great idea!

In addition to talking with different people within the Refuge, we went on the canoe trail and explored the Visitor Center. Luckily, none of us tipped the canoe! That was quite a relief. The exhibits were wonderful! Ed and I particularly enjoyed the exhibit with the boy and his father discussing the different sounds one would hear at the Refuge. It sounded as if we were actually in the middle of the Refuge!
We ended the week with a mentoring session from Dr. Brian LaPointe of FAU’s Harbor Branch located in Fort Pierce. Brian talked about the influence that nutrients from the Everglades have on algal blooms on coral reefs. The restoration of the Everglades will certainly help the reduction in algal blooms.