debor042

            by Kristen Dominguez*                      As an undergraduate student in Evelyn Gaiser’s Lab at Florida International University (FIU), I was           provided the opportunity to visit and study the algae of the pristine and gorgeous Lake Annie .           Located at the Archbold Biological Station (halfway from Miami to Orlando), this sinkhole lake fed           by rainfall and groundwater is home to a wide variety of organisms, including many planktonic           algae. In 2006, this tiny lake became part of the Global Lakes Ecological Observatory Network that           examines global trends in lake ecosystems. Fig. 1.  Kristen taking Secchi depth measurements of water transparency at Lake Annie . Fig. 2. Kristen Dominguez (lef...

Our regular bloggers are out gathering data so today we have a guest blogger, Stephanie Long from the Department of Earth and Environment .  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Despite all of the extreme weather reporting and constant television coverage, Hurricane Isaac was just another storm for most of South Floridians. The only trouble the storm brought us was copious amounts of rain. So when I got a chance to go take samples along the L30 Levee just three days after the storm had passed, I was given a very fundamental lesson in South Florida hydrogeology. Fast moving water coming through  the L30 Levee and into the L30 Canal. Water Conservation Area 3B is FIU's nearest WCA neighbor. It is bordered by the Tamiami Canal to the south and the L30 Canal to the east. Three days after Isaac, the water in WCA 3B was pretty high; it even seemed to swamp the invasive cattail. We dr...

The limousine pulls up to the opera house... The patrons step out wearing their summer fashion...   The red carpet is laid out, welcoming the guests... And the symphony begins… Hmm Hmm Buzzzz Bzzzzz Bzzzz….Slap Splat, Clap Smash…. Hmm Hmm Buzzzz Bzzzzz Bzzzz….Slap Splat, Clap Smash While conducting research in the Everglades you will inevitably come in contact with throngs of mosquitoes, especially during the dog days of summer in the mangroves along Shark River and Taylor River.  So let me back up a bit. In addition to the satellite images I use for my research (see previous post), I also collect water samples from the groundwater, surface water and pore water in the coastal mangrove ecotone. These samples serve as ground-truthed data, or in other words, a way to calibrate and validate the results from the satellite images (more to come). This requires going out in the Everglades every 2-3 months to collect samples, and that includes going d...