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USF College of Marine Science

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OCG — Final Preparation!

Campers receive real laboratory experience

Campers receive real laboratory experience

Three weeks down already! Already!? We’ve moved from lecture study to field sampling to laboratory analysis …. and now, it’s time for scientific presentation.

The girls already practiced doing this once: After our trips to Shell Key, Ft. Desoto, and the Gulf of Mexico onboard the R/V Bellows, the campers spent a morning compiling all of their observations into data sheets, and graphing them: fish populations in the mangroves, fish in the open sea, salinity, shell types, birds – even the different types of trash we cleaned up from the beaches were noted.

This time, though, the campers have real laboratory experience under their belts, and the lab projects will be presented in the same style as an academic conference, with power points, images, graphs, and even formal dress.

Lab experiences offered by this year’s OCG program

Yesterday, we discussed the different parts of a science presentation: every presentation needs a central question (the objective of the project), a description of the sample & the methodology used to analyze it, the raw results, and an interpretation. These four parts combine to form the fifth component: the final conclusion, and speculation about what additional research could provide further insight in the future.

The girls have been grouped into seven teams, to present about seven of the lab experiences offered by this year’s OCG program:

Microbiology – Isabella, Mary Margaret & Vivian

Fish Biology – Kayla, Alyssa & “Sav”

Ocean Acidification – Cheryl, Emily, Karin & Jasmine

Ocean Modeling – Rory, Giulietta & Shay

Caladesi Beach Profile Mapping – Maya, Lily & Brooke

Sea Squirt Microbes – Alayna, Carleigh, Kirrin & Julia

Electron Microscopy – Chloe, Sierra & Bianca

Fish Habitat Mapping – Hayley, Sabby & Mikayla

Underwater Robotics – Diana, Wynn, Savannah & Tameyah

We’ve been at it all morning (shut indoors, all beautiful morning :/….) and we’ve already got the powerpoints half-done! Give us a quick lunch break & swim call, and see we’ll see what we can finish this afternoon!

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Our blue planet faces a suite of challenges and opportunities for understanding and innovation. Our mission is to advance understanding of the interconnectivity of ocean systems and human-ocean interactions using a cross-disciplinary approach, to empower the next workforce of the blue economy with a world-class education experience, and to share our passion for a healthy environment and science-informed decision-making with community audiences near and far.