Ame Teaderman (UR) - Extra Tidbits and Research Topics

I've said a fair bit in my previous post about myself, but I feel that more needs to be said before I dive into the research aspect of things. Despite my scientific drive, I actually wound up on the Environmental Science and Technology (EST) program by spur of the moment decisions and perhaps a bit of luck. I'm inspired by many things both in science and art, and while that lends me the ability to be more creative and varied in my knowledge pool, it also makes it exceedingly hard to make decisions on life-changing career choices, especially in college majors and degrees, which often at first glance lend themselves to specialization, rather than branching out. So while sitting in front of the advisor anxiously, not having a single clue what degree or major to even consider pursuing, I made a best guess at what I would like, and picked the EST program. It was probably one of the most nerve-wracking moments of my life! Thankfully since then I've found more grounding in what I would like to learn and do with my time here, which leads to the potential research topics.

As I've mentioned in my previous blog post, I'm most fond of seabirds and particular flora, though that fondness certainly extends to other wildlife as well. While the upcoming research project I'll be doing needs to involve water quality in some form, rather than just testing the water by itself in different locations, I've been given a pretty cool opportunity to study something else.

Crabs! (Photo by Jules Thomas)

That's right. Crabs. I haven't had a chance to do too much reading into them yet, but from what I have looked into, blue crabs and stone crabs are likely what we're going to see a lot of down here in Florida, and so far it looks like the research project will be tuned to catching and releasing them after collecting data. Which is rather exciting! I'm going to go get some shut eye however, but expect more research soon, and see you next week!

Source: Thomas, J. (2019, Nov. 13). [Photo of many Blue Crabs]. Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/vM1Lz1ftMU8.