(upbeat music)
- This is what we call the
field course in marine biology.
What students learn from this is what
we have always promoted
at FIT which is real
hands-on experience as far as students
who not only do the science of it
but also absorb science
in its local venue.
Two alumni who in fact took this course
when it was first developed in 2008,
Evan Tuohy and Chelsea Harms,
they have developed this research
and educational institute called Isla Mar.
It is a two week course
in which we all come here
to Puerto Rico and we spend a few hours
to do some lectures and Q and A sessions
and then we go to the field
and make the connection
between theory and reality.
- We structure the course in a way
that kind of resembles the
every day of a field researcher
and it's not everything that you see
on the National Geographic Channel,
these plush, highly funded projects.
You can do a lot with little resources.
It's an intensive two weeks.
We're in the field all morning.
In the afternoon, we're in
the classroom giving lectures
or doing some type of excursion,
hiking the waterfalls,
through the rainforest,
seeing some of the island
and the island ecology.
(upbeat music)
- A general day would look
like waking up in the morning,
going into the field,
practicing the technique
that we learned or that we taught them
in the afternoon before.
We spend a lot of time
in the water visiting
all kinds of different
areas around the island.
We go to seagrass beds, mangroves,
spend a lot of time on the coral reefs.
We visit marine protected
areas and fished reefs.
- [Evan] The focus of the
courses have always been
to train the students
with the necessary skills
to continue their careers
as field marine scientists.
- [Chelsea] So what we
do and what we've trained
our students to do is to perform
underwater visual census.
The basics of that would
involve a transect tape,
a quadrat, and a slate with a datasheet.
Essentially we take that transect tape,
we lay a line on the reef
to assess the habitat
of that coral reef.
We have a quadrat that
we'll lay at, again,
predetermined distances along
that transect and take photos.
We'll essentially use that information
to characterize percent live coral cover
or the different distribution
of those benthic organisms
along that transect tape which we can use
to extrapolate to the
area, our study sight
for instance, the reserve
out here in Rincon.
- Day one, we came and explored the beach
and then went right out
snorkeling the next day.
And then we learned how to  do transects.
So we take the tape measure,
we got out 25 meters
and then every five meters
we lay out a quadrant,
take a picture.
And it's really hard with the swells.
I was like upside down and everything.
And then you test rugosity
And you just hang a chain about 10 meters
and you do a calculation.
That was harder than I
thought it would be. (laughs)
It was really fun though.
But whipping around the
swells and everything.
I think everyday it's just been snorkeling
and exploring new places.
- I decided to do this
particular field course
because it is something
completely different
from my major and I felt that
it was a good opportunity
to come and do something
completely different
in a completely new place.
The importance of taking these pictures
and taking these measurements is sort of,
it's good to have this data
for all future reference
to see over time how
these reefs have changed
and how maybe hurricanes
or increases in population
and other factors have
effected the reefs, basically.
We've had multiple different speakers.
We've had geologists.
We've had multiple different
specialists have come
to talk to us about different
areas of their study
which has been really interesting.
And I think that's
probably my favorite part
so far of the trip and of
working with Chelsea and Evan.
- We really enjoy getting
our local graduate students
on the island involved with our courses
and it kind of helps
the FIT students network
with these graduate students as well.
So we have those graduate students come
and lead guest lectures and
kind of fill in the gaps
in areas of marine science that
might not be our expertise.
That's always been a really
incredible experience
for the students to get
to essentially learn
field techniques, to be in the water,
to learn these skills
that they're gonna be able
to take with them in their career.
But then at the same time, get
to explore an amazing island.
We got our group involved
with kind of giving back
as a service opportunity
to our island here after
we felt the devastation
of Hurricane Maria.
- This field course doesn't
just encompass reef recovery,
it also covers terrestrial recoveries.
So we actually went to a
cacao farm to help the farmers
replant their cacao trees after the storm.
I think that was really
interesting 'cause we were helping
their community as well as studying corals
or incorporating terrestrial
and marine recovery
which is, I think, really
unique about this course.
(upbeat music)
- The added value of a
field research based class
like this, this is what
we call a field course
in marine biology, is that
the students can immerse
themselves to real life situations
that puts more meaning to what they learn
in the theoretical
aspects of science because
they can immediately apply
that and find real meaning.
- I was kind of worried at first.
I was like I don't know
if I want to do this.
Like is it worth it, will I learn enough?
And I think I've learned
more in the two weeks
than I did all year. (laughs)
Just hands-on work, getting to hear Evan
and Chelsea's perspective
on how their work is
and how you do research
and it's a lot harder
than I thought it would be
but it's definitely worth it.
I thought that I would
have a hard time memorizing
the fish species 'cause I
really struggle with that.
But they kind of also help
you figure out a way to study
'cause the way that they lecture,
you know, you're like oh,
this kind of helps me,
the way they do the fish
quiz and everything.
So I appreciated that.
(upbeat music)
- One of the most fulfilling
aspects of being involved
with this course is to watch students
who have really progressed from day one
until day 14 at the end of the trip
and to go out into the field with them
and point out these fish,
well which fish is that
or what coral is that and to hear them
immediately be able to
tell us which one it is
after just a few days of
practice and training.
And to take them to a new spot
and just see their eyes light up
when they see this beautiful super-healthy
coral reef out here in Rincon.
And one thing that I love about the class
that we have now is everyone
is just so proactive
and so interested and
I know they're tired,
I know we definitely
keep them really busy,
but when it comes down to
it at the end of the day
when we say hey, who wants to
go on an afternoon snorkel,
every single one of
them raises their hands,
like they're all ready
to go right back out
into the field to go
explore something new.
And we love that, like that
just totally brightens our day
to see that even through
all the hard work,
they're still super amped
to go try something new,
to go explore something different.
(upbeat music)
- [Man] Be interviewed with a dog.
- All right. (laughs)
(upbeat music)
