Kristen Ghaffarian U.R. The Big Brain Storm

This past week in class we did what I would call a large brainstorm.  We each went around the room letting our classmates know if we had narrowed something down, or if we were still trying to weed through our ideas.  It was great to hear what others were doing as well as having their input on possible directions we could go with our research.  I was able to jot down some good pointers and it definitely makes you feel motivated knowing the others are interested in your success as well.  We were given some past data from the Indian River Lagoon seagrass transects, and it was shocking to say the least viewing the data.  I chose the summer 1994 and summer 2002 and it was interesting to see the numbers side by side.  Some areas had more in 2002 than in 1994 and vice versa.
    I have pretty much narrowed down where I am headed with my research project.  I will be testing two retention ponds "lakes" in Waters Edge, which is in Port Orange to see if there is an abundance of nutrients, especially the ones that are used commonly in the citrus industry, as well as testing the oxygen levels.  I am testing the oxygen levels more because one of the retention ponds has a fountain in the middle and one does not.  I was given the reason from some neighbors that the one without is placed in such a way that the wind is enough to circulate the water naturally.  I'm not 100% sold, so I would like to know.  I will also be calling the HOA to see if I can get the dimensions of the lakes i.e. area size, and hope to be able to get out into the "lake" to measure the depth as well.
    I missed my chance to collect water today since the rain storm came in with a vengeance.  Tomorrow I will be collecting my samples, and am interested to see what we find on Friday.