Environmental science students make presentation

Flagler College reported to local news reporters at Historic City News that the college has partnered with the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine (GTM) Research Reserve to conduct community-based research; research that meets identified community needs.

Flagler College biological and environmental science students will be making a presentation on their research on Monday, April 12th, from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. in the Gamache-Koger Theater of the Ringhaver Student Center located at 50 Sevilla Street.

GTM is dedicated to the conservation of natural biodiversity and cultural resources through research and monitoring to guide science-based stewardship and education strategies.

The presentation will highlight the information on the five areas of research that the Flagler students have been working on. Those areas include invasive species habitat impacts (hogs), dune vegetation surveys to determine if forage species are available for endangered beach mice, distribution of red mangroves, by-catch – catching fish you did not mean to catch and then discarding them – and sea turtle nesting.

“For the first try, it’s been a very successful venture,” said Barbara Blonder, associate professor of biological and environmental science at Flagler College. “The students have been conducting the research on their own out in the field. They even work overtime, performing research on weekends and weeknights.”

Blonder feels it’s important for the community to understand the importance of the research being conducted by the students.

“People will gain an understanding of what Flagler students are doing to contribute to science research needs in our local community,” she said.

There will be an additional presentation by a Flagler student who is conducting an independent study at the Whitney Marine Biosciences Laboratory.

The environmental science program was started at Flagler College in 2008 by Dr. Terri Seron, Ph.D., and Barbara Blonder. It was developed in order to provide students with a strong foundation in science while allowing them to connect to the natural world.

This will be the first group of Flagler College students to graduate with an environmental science minor.