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For 46day This year, students in the Environmental Science: Advanced class at Munster High School in Munster, Indiana, traveled to Big Pine Key, Florida, for a week-long immersive field course. Dr. David Zawada, a research oceanographer at the St. Petersburg Center for Coastal and Marine Sciences and a Munster High School alumnus, participated in the course for 34day time.
Zawada camps with the class, leads daily hikes to highlight the geological uniqueness of Big Pine Key, assists with “hands-on” field experiments, and teaches about his current research with the U.S. Geological Survey. Zawada took the Environmental Science: Advanced course in high school, which served as his “origin story” as an oceanographer. His involvement provides students with opportunities to interact with scientists in the field.
“Project Biology,” as faculty and students often call it, is a unique extracurricular course that requires students to apply for one of approximately 24 spots. The course was created in 1974 to allow students to understand the connection between the nearby Indiana Dunes and the Florida Keys, about 1,500 miles away. Geologically, both sites were significantly affected by the end of the Wisconsin glaciation period about 12,000 years ago. There are also similarities in the plants and animals at the two sites, including cacti. The course also provides many students with their first experience scuba diving on a coral reef.
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