Entry 6: Reflection

Over the course of this Colloquium class we discussed certain topics and what they meant. The following were focused on the most:

Sustainability: the ability for something to be kept in it's initial condition without using depleting resources.

Eco-literacy: Awareness and understanding of the environment and its inner workings.

Sense of place: Knowing your place in a specific environment.

In the beginning of the term I had a basic understanding of these terms, but over the course of the semester my knowledge has become more in-depth. Before Colloquium I could give basic definitions of these terms whereas now I can discuss and elaborate on them in detail as well as connect them to my area of study, mathematics. 

Math connects to everything, if you hadn't noticed already. Certain algorithms and equations can map and model ecosystems more clearly than most predictions. Dijkstra's algorithm can give you the shortest path from one place to another, which can reduce the amount of emissions and energy expended. Math can help us understand our sense of place through graph theory. If we see a food web as a graph and understand where we lie in this web, we can see our impact on the rest of the environment. 

I enjoyed connecting my major with this class through the final project. I also enjoyed the field trips as they helped me understand certain elements of the course. I did not like the long periods of time spent in the classroom. My attention span is very short and the class seemed very long. Almost 3 hours in a classroom, even with breaks, became uncomfortable and not enjoyable. If I were to teach the class I would like for it to meet twice a week and involve more varied activities in the classroom. I'd also change some of the paper topics. Making every student in the university answer the same questions seems strange to me. Some new topics could shed a new light on the course and may make students more excited to share their opinion on things they're passionate about. 

Entry 5: Estero Island Cottage and Matanzas Pass

My Estero Island Cottage experience was a fantastic one. We were educated by a lovely and knowledgeable woman named Jo. While we ate her delicious homemade sea grape jelly, she entertained us with stories of when she was a child growing up on old Fort Myers beach. These stories were laced with history that would have been bland coming from a book, but she brought them to life. You could tell she was passionate about preserving the history of Fort Myers beach. Once finished at the cottage, we loaded up onto the bus for our canoeing excursion. Though we had a rocky start, canoeing was an overall enjoyable experience that I would gladly repeat. My favorite part of this field trip was learning about Fort Myers beach and it's history. I feel it is important to preserve the important landmarks like Estero Island Cottage but not forget about the progress that has been made since then. My hometown hasn't changed much over the years except for the occasional new restaurant or store. I don't live there anymore so I can't really speak on the sense of community, but when I lived there there wasn't much to begin with. I didn't know my neighbors, the restaurants didn't know my "usual", and there weren't many mom and pop shops. I would take 300% of my childhood home's value if there were to be condos built there because I have no sense of connection to my hometown and it isn't a place that would be missed or needs to be preserved. I'd take the 300% for condos over the 80% for the 20/20 program in order to conserve it. It isn't a special home that has any significant history. Unfortunately though, there aren't many places left with historical significance like the Estero Island Cottage.

Entry 4: Downtown Fort Myers

When I think "downtown", I think of small, locally owned, overpriced shops and restaurants, maybe some nightlife, a pub or two. Nothing historical ever comes to mind. "Downtown" is modern and new. When we visited Downtown Fort Myers however, that changed. There were old buildings like the First National Bank and Edison Theater, and a structure made of coral. "Arcade" didn't mean what I normally think it does. There were museums (Art of the Olympians), sculptures (Firestone, Edison, and Ford fountain), and murals  depicting important historical events.

Downtown Fort Myers is going through an "eco-phase". There is a basin that helps purify water as it leaves the area in order to improve the quality of water flowing into the Caloosahatchee. The way the city is set up encourages walking from place to place so as to reduce the dependence on cars.
The economy of Ft. Myers has evolved through its richness in culture as well as becoming a booming financial district. There are places to live, eat, shop, and view art; places anyone would enjoy. Before World War II, Fort Myers was undeveloped. Today, its growth is exponential; Fort Myers has sustained its history even with all of this growth. 

Entry 3: ECHO

On February 13th, FGCU's Honors Colloquium class took a trip to ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization), a demonstration farm located in Ft. Myers dedicated to helping those who work internationally to advance agriculture in poor communities. ECHO was not what I expected. We had an entertaining guide who, despite his age, had an energy that was contagious. His knowledge of various plants combined with the way he made the information easy to understand made the whole experience enjoyable overall. Periodically he would hand us leaves or fruit of of trees to eat as he explained they're beneficial properties. The various way ECHO grew foods shed a light on global agriculture as it pertains to different types of terrain. I picture "American" agriculture as sprawling fields with rows upon rows of wheat, corn, tomatoes, and citrus fruits. At ECHO, there were rice paddy plots, slopped fields that seem almost impossible to grow on, and moringa tree branches acting as a fence. 

ECHO's work is very relevant to the developing world because it isn't practical for the rest of the world to farm like we do, in the scale we do. The urban garden would be useful in big cities where there isn't room to have a sprawling garden in your backyard. Also, their work with "appropriate technology", (which is using available resources to improve quality of life in impoverished areas) shows how innovative one can be with what's given to them. Though the work done at ECHO interests me, I'm not interested in performing service learning with this agency, I'm already involved in other organizations that take up more than enough of my time. 

Entry 2: Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary Field Trip

On Wednesday, January 23rd, the FGCU Colloquium class took a field trip to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples to explore the different ecosystems nearby. The major habitats scattered throughout the area are the pine uplands, cypress dome, oak hammock, and wet prairies. Pictured below is the transition from the pine uplands (right) to the wet prairies (center) to the cypress dome (left).

The long boardwalk, made of the same wood as the FGCU boardwalks, wanders through the differing ecosystems. It was built to jut every which way to avoid harming existing trees. In one spot, a tree is growing through a hole right in the middle of the boardwalk (pictured on left).











Toward the end of the trip we visited what was called the "living machine". It's a water filtration system that models nature. It takes the waste and water that is flushed down the toilet in the adjacent restroom and transfers it to an 10,000 gallon underground tank. From there, it goes to a series of five smaller tanks. It slowly flows from there into the soil where plants further the filtration process. The water goes back into the toilet with a ninety percent recovery rate. 

The sanctuary focuses on conservation of its environment. Conservation is defined as the prevention of loss, injury, waste, or decay. Another similar focus of Corkscrew is stewardship, which is defined as the responsible overseeing of something worth preserving. The Corkscrew area is a vital part of South Florida's ecosystem as it serves as an important connection to wildlife and the natural flow of water throughout the state. Particularly, the Audubon Society wanted to preventing plume hunting and logging in the area as poachers, wanting the expensive plumes of birds in the Corkscrew swamp, were making the population of wading birds dwindle dramatically. 

Also, bulldozing the area and building up may have a positive effect on the local economy, but the ecosystem would severely suffer. The wildlife that call the area home would lose any shelter, and the last of the oldest virgin bald cypress forest (pictured above) would be demolished without a second thought. The Audubon Society prevented this successfully with the help of multiple organizations gathered the support to purchase this area in order to conserve this ecosystem. This is an example of civic engagement: groups of like minded people coming together to protect something worth preserving, like Corkscrew. Non-profit organizations such as the Audubon Society and its supporting organizations have the power to conserve any environment they find fundamental and important to the global environment. If the government has any place in this mission, it is to pass legislation that protects important ecosystems and to fund projects and organizations with focus on stewardship.

Entry 1: Expectations and Sustainability

     Upon speaking to my senior roommate who took Honors Colloquium in Fall of 2011 with a different professor, I learned that the class would be "a piece of cake". Since I'm taking the class with a different professor, I hoped it would be the same scenario, but I was disappointed to discover on the first day of class that I wouldn't have it so easily. Since this is the honors version of the class, the expectations are higher. That paired with my out-of-practice writing skills as a math major makes me unsure if the class will be an easy A. However, I am excited to learn more about the area I live in and my role in the environment. 

     The first day of class we discussed what we thought specific words meant. These words to me seemed like sort of buzz words for the course, or maybe an overview of what we will be going over in upcoming weeks. "Sustainability" was the first word thrown out. It seems synonymous with being renewable; something is sustainable when it is not harmful to the environment when used long term. Also discussed was "sense of place" which is to know your place in a system. Something I had never heard of before is the word "eco-literacy", which we are asked to define  Upon doing some research I found that it meant a awareness of Earth as our life support system, as if earth is a machine that keeps life going. Eco-literacy includes knowing the principles of organization of ecosystems. 

     We are asked to relate sustainability to our chosen field of study. As that is mathematics, I have some difficulty seeing how this relates to anything I could learn about sustainability. There are always differential equations that one could write about emissions from a certain factory and the rate of change of the pollution in the atmosphere, but that only points out the problem and how quickly it's spreading. As a mathematician, I can only provide data on sustainability  but it is not within my field to actually take some sort of action (which is not to say I won't, it's only highly improbable for a mathematician to do so).

     Though I can identify unsustainable behaviors of mine, it is not a fun process. No one likes to think about any harm they're doing to the environment on a daily basis, but the first step to solving a problem is to make sure it's known. Although I'm constantly refilling my reusable water bottle, occasional I can be seen buying a bottle of water from the vending machine when I've forgotten mine. I fall asleep watching "Mythbusters" many nights; this leads to the televisions being on all night (which I don't mind because I don't like complete darkness or silence.) I live on campus, which means I can easily walk to class every morning, but on many occasion I have taken the shuttle because I'm tired or it's raining or just too darn hot! 

     I'm looking forward to all I can learn in this class, but seeing as it isn't a math class, I'm not sure it can be too much fun.