Hi ho, Hi Ho, It's through the trails we go.

Yesterday, the class and I ventured out with our Professor as well as a wonderful Grad student, who is obtaining her Masters in Environmental studies. She looked like a kid, she probably was, seeing that I am on average 5-10 years older than most students. Between Ariel and Dr. Durham, our mile long trek on the trails of FGCU's campus was extremly entertaining!
NOTE: Should you ever take a class like this with an Entomologist as an instructor, hilarity will ensue! Visualize if you will, a 30 something DPM (Doctor of Plant Medicine) turning over logs, ala 8 year old style, to look for bugs to make girly girl students squeal!

I will admit, I was a bit hesitant trekking into the "woods" of Ft. Myers, FL. I use quotes because I grew up in and around these types of woods!

Building tree houses like these

Surely NOTHING could even begin to compare!

Well...I was right. Nothing does compare to this gals memory of my childhood woods. I will say however that I was presently surprised. What I was not expecting was how different a one mile trail through a college campus could look with virtually every step. (Please bear with me regarding these pictures, I had packed up my nice big Cannon and then proceeded to leave it on the dining room table. The following images are from my little Nexus 4G)

See that big ovoid structure up there? Yes, right there in the middle. A 3 foot tall hornets nest. Yes, if you must know, I laughed hysterically when one girl screamed and her friend barreled through the group to get away from it. It was inactive. Amateurs. :-D

Now onto the required questions for this assignment:

Your musings on the campus trail walk and the selection of this site for the FGCU campus. Is it consistent with the “eco-empowerment” mission of the university? Or is it entirely incompatible? Why or why not? Does your particular background predispose you to a certain viewpoint?

Eco-Empowerment? Yeah, I couldn't find a definition online either. However after doing a little research, I am willing to conclude that it is the thought of embracing the environment and creating knowledgeable a empowered humans to bring the environment and issues of, into the light. Do I believe that our walk yesterday embraces the idea of Eco-empowerment? Sort of. My classmates and I gained valuable knowledge regarding nature around us that many see every day and ignore. We became aware of wildlife that needs to be protected from vehicles on campus. Species of trees (unfortunately I am unable to remember the name), exotic to Florida, that are suffocating native plants. I guess that we are gaining Eco-empowerment, but we are not there yet. Does my background predispose me to a certain viewpoint? YES! As Dr. Durham stated in class, Florida is approximately 25-30 years behind Washington State when it comes to sustainability and environmentalism. Seattle is more Eco-empowered than Ft. Myers and will always be , at least for my lifetime.




That is all for today kids! I will leave you with this, an image for Kohlrabi, one of the best snacks ever! This amazing specimine was purchased today from our local Organic Worden Farms. Major Noms!

My first blog entry

I will admit, this is a little strange. Submitting my assignments in a way that not only can my entire class see what I am saying, but also the world, should they choose, can see what I am saying. It's a little intimidating.

With that, and with some hesitation, here I begin.

What are my expectations for this class?

I expect to earn my 3 credits. I expect (thanks to my Type-A personality) to get an A. Beyond that, I am not completely sure what to expect from this class. Colloquium, I believe, will allow my "granola crunching tree hugger" side to show. Coming from Seattle, Florida is years behind what I am used to regarding environmental and sustainability practices. In elementary school, I was part of Earth Corps. A group of students who presented, usually in a musical manner, the benefits of the late 80's slogan of "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!" Almost 20 years later, I still die a little inside when I see a pop can in the trash. Living in an Earth conscious fashion is part of me. I hope that this class will allow me to continue my dialogue with my friends and family who aren't as "green" as my little family is.

In your own words, what is sustainability?

Maintaining our current life with minimal impact so that our future generations may survive.

How does sustainability (or ecological sense of place) relate to your chosen field of study?

As someone who will be pursuing her Ph.D. in Physical/Forensic Anthropology, sustainability will play a role in my future with regards to laboratory practices. Labs, depending on their size, are huge energy consumers. When it comes to an Anthropology lab for Forensic case work, we constantly have things plugged in and "cooking and cooling" (refrigeration and hot water maceration processes) in order to achieve the clean bones necessary to successfully complete a case. In the future, I may be responsible for maintaining a lab, where if possible, I will be researching alternative energy sources to keep us up and running.
Another factor that we can look at with regards to forensics research is the potential change in decomposition rates in areas of the country or world that do or do not use sustainable items in and on their land. Changes in soil may alter the rate that a body goes through the decomp stages and should it alter it significantly, the outcome of the case my change depending on a possible time since death estimation.

Can you identify and personal behaviors and/or attitudes that are unsustainable?

James Watt, Presidents Regan’s Secretary of the Interior. "We don't have to protect the environment; the second coming is at hand." I cannot think of a more unsustainable comment. He firmly believed, at this point in time at least, that the return of Christ was imminent, so why the heck should we even think of protecting our planet when it will be destroyed anyway?