Restoration Ecology 2013: This is it!

Today is the day! We will be presenting our projects in about an hour and a half and I could not be more excited/nervous. This is basically one of the last things we have to do, as our research paper is nearly complete. After we present today, and finish the paper of course, the only other thing that will be done with this initial phase of the study will be to meet with the friends of the reserve in February at a poster session outlining all the projects that have occurred at the GTM NERR in the past year. Honestly, I feel privileged to be able to present our findings in the spring, so I really can't wait. I would like the Guana Tolomato Matanzas Research Reserve for allowing us to use their site and some of their supplies (even those pesky mules that only wanted to work properly sometimes).
As well, I have been given the opportunity to continue this study in the spring, though in an independent manner. In doing this, I hope to continue to learn about restoration projects and the actual science behind it. Overall, this is a field I have a growing interest in and perhaps being able to continue to work in the field an actually apply what I have learned in the classroom will help me gain experience in what could be a career choice (though I do really need to get used to early morning events apparently!).
I really enjoyed this class and in saying that, I would like to thank Dr. Smith for being such a helpful and understandning profeesor and I look forward to working with her more in the Spring. As well, my group was awesome and I didn't ever feel affected by "Group Hate Syndrome" (which yes, its a real thing). . Everyone put together a collective effort to put this project together and I think we really did a great job. We spent countless hours in the lab and library trying to pull this project together and I honestly look forward to working with Najda and Collin more in the Spring as we work on our independent study.