Growing up in Olean, Lily Schena had never experienced the fun of ocean snorkeling. That changed over Alfred University’s winter break, when Lily and nine other students enrolled in the Environmental Studies course Ecology of the Bahamas and traveled to the Bahamas with Environmental Studies Professor Fred Beaudry, Environmental Studies Technician Nicole Munkwitz, and Assistant Professor of Geology Michaela Fendrock.
The students stayed at the Gerace Research Centre, on San Salvador Island, collected data related to two research projects, and attended lectures on the ecology of the islands. They also snorkeled every morning in the warm waters heated by the northwesterly flowing Antilles Current. The trip was supported with funding from Alfred University’s Bernstein and Hagar funds in addition to support from the office of the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which oversees Environmental Studies.
The educational impact of the trip was considerable, according to Schena, a junior majoring in environmental studies, political science, and sociology, and who plans to attend law school and eventually practice environmental law. The snorkeling was especially fun. “It was my first time, and I caught on fast,” she says. “There was stuff I’d never seen before, and it was just so cool. It was one of the coolest trips I’ve ever taken.”
Her fellow undergraduate and snorkeler, Kiani Barnard-Pratt, of Westford, Mass, also had high praise for the trip. A biomaterials major with minors in biology and chemistry, Barnard-Pratt had snorkeled before in the Bahamas and the Pacific Ocean around Hawaii. She loved the morning swims, the afternoon data collections and the evening classes.
“It was all so new to me. I loved all of it,” she says.
Barnard-Pratt was part of a group of six students that collected data on the impact of Australian pine trees, an invasive species, on native plant life. Students measured concentrations of plant growth at varying distances from individual tree trunks to assess the impact of the trees – and the shadows they cast – on native plant life.
Separately, Schena and another student studied deposits of trash on the San Salvador beach in the vicinity of the island’s landfill. They recorded large quantities of plastics of varying sizes littering the beach, some pieces migrating from the depository area and other pieces transported to the island via ocean currents, from as far away as Europe.
“There are bottle caps everywhere,” she says; also, two plastic items in particular: one bearing a Brazilian stamp and another bearing Dominican Republic identification.
The students recorded data related to the two projects and now, back on the Alfred University campus, they are analyzing the data for future study. Schena’s group in particular is interested in drawing up a tentative remediation plan to address garbage on the island.
They also will prepare posters that will be displayed at the Undergraduate Research Forum on April 23. The rest of the Alfred community can share in their Bahamian trip at that time. For the environmental studies students, it will be a time to recall and share their memories of San Salvador Island.
