Final Impressions

I liked Colloquiem. Although some of the class was reaffirmation of previous learning, I did learn a great deal of new things. Whether they be sustainability practice and ideas, things to do in downtown Fort Myers, green living, sense of place, service learning and the difference between it and community service, and the Earth Charter, among other things. I think it is a well thought out course as a learning Ecologist. I can understand where others of a different field would not appreciate this course much, but this is just a real time example of the battle we have everyday to become more sustainable and ecologically aware as a people on Earth. I liked everything as is. Field trips are always good. Even though we went on a great deal of field trips, with bus carpooling which I liked, there can always be more. Learning visually and hands on is a way in which almost anyone can learn (even the stubborn ones).

Pix

From Left to Right and moving Down

This is a picture of a strangler fig downtown taking root in an Oak tree. If it is not stopped, the Fig will takeover and kill the Oak because the fig is an aggresive invasive species.

This picture is of the Alien in the museum in downtown Fort Myers which i did not think fit into the exhibit.

The next picture with the dog, is at my friends place, where they have a great edible garden, where you can see the Amaranth in the picture(as seen at ECHO)

The next picture is of a sunflower in my friends garden as well. If you look close you can see a bee about to land on it.

This picture is of the construction of the Estero Parkway extention across the interstate at sunset. It will bring easy commute for many, but is still construction nonetheless.

The flower picture is one I took of my friend's passionvine flower. Not native, but beatiful and the bearer of a tasty fruit at times.

Earth Charter

I think the ideas of the earth charter and what we learned in class are almost identical. It is a realistic idea, if you can get the majority or more on board with it. The ideas that come to mind which are most alike are probably sustainability, sense of place, and land ethic. The idea of sustainability was easily viewed at ECHO farm. They use many ways and strategies to maximize growth potential with the most minimal and recycleable means possible. Sense of place is also easily discovered through activities such as Eco footprint, readings about the McIveys, and understanding your place in the world in general through over all understanding of your personal ecology. Land Ethic is a combination of a lot things, mainly ecology, but mostly understanding your impact on the earth and attemting to minimize it in the way in which you interact with the land as much as possible.

Spirituality, Religion and Sustainability

This was an interesting flick. I liked how the different groups used religion as a drive to be a good steward of the earth. I supprt however people can find a way to do this. Religion is always here for people, and will be in the future generations. It tells us how we have to respect and protect our environment because it is God given, and it will be in use by our future generations, and it would only be right to preserve it for them. In that same way, religion helps us connect with nature. I personally think these 2 things are very separate. I do not think you have to have a cause such as religion to understand these concepts. If anything, respect where you live, so it will be there tommorrow, and be able to support you and future generations.

Field Trip #5

This field trip was a great way to get in touch with downtown Fort Myers. I myself had not had much reason to come to downtown Fort Myers, aside for paying some tickets at the clerk or court. Our walk downtown was fun including the palm park with various types of palm trees including Areca palms, Bismarck palms, Date palms, fish tail palms, and many others. There was a sculpture that I particularly liked, which was a set of hollow black metal cylinders with latin names of flora cut out of them. Also seeing old buildings such as the theatre, banks, and antique shops were very unique. The Museum had a wealth of information as well. There was good information on the Calusas lifestyle as well as early settlers, and the tools they both used. The only thing I did not appreciate or understand, was the alien body from X files.....i dont think it had relavance to Florida history.

Field Trip #5

The field trip to Vester Marine Lab to canoe was one of my most favorite trips we took. I like doing physical activity such as canoeing. Combining that with ecological information is a great way to learn and have fun. We were able to see oyster beds, mangroves of all types or almost all types, mangrove detritus and its purpose, many birds, and some fish(mostly mullet). Vester marine lab in itslef is a nice place as well, which I hope to work at through further education. The grounds of the lab also have some good fruit trees, such as mangos, key limes, avocados, and other citrus. I am very happy the Vester family has facilitated the use of this lab for FGCU.

Neighborhood

I do not believe anything has changed in my neigborhood. It is a fairly stable and man made emvironment. My perspective is pretty much the same, since I have last inventoried my neighborhood. One thing I now take into consideration is that the Eco quiz score suffered points from living in the type of building I do. I thought it was a pretty efficient set up, but i guess not. I see black vultures, mockingbirds, little dogs, ospreys, ducks, red tail hawks, and some opossums and raccoons from time to time. There are not any features inside of the complex which support wildlife, except for a few lakes that the birds prefer.