从数字地图到现实世界的影响:一年级学生的巴哈马研究冒险

26岁的杰西卡·耶森斯基与巴哈马的圣萨尔瓦多岛. 特雷弗·布朗宁，环境科学助理教授，博士. 丹尼尔Kjar, Associate Professor of Biology, 当她从岛上的电子地图上认出一些地方时，她的脸亮了起来。她在岛上搜索了很多地方，以完成她的研究. Yesensky, first-year 埃尔迈拉大学 student at the time, 被邀请在2023年在圣萨尔瓦多进行第一年的研究 Gerace Research Centre Conference 还有她的教授、其他大学的研究生和业内专业人士. 这段经历，用叶先斯基的话来说，“不是戏剧化的，但它是不可思议的。. It was really cool.”

Yesensky, 生物化学 和 Environmental Science major, was the youngest presenter at the conference. Her work focused on the erosion vulnerability of San Salvador, 这是基于布朗宁对热带岛屿的侵蚀脆弱性进行索引的研究.

Yesensky chose EC because of the focus on undergraduate research, which is encouraged as early as the first year. 她是在与布朗博士一起进行微塑料研究项目时发现布朗宁的研究的. Michael Selig, Assistant Professor of Chemistry. 在见到布朗宁并与他谈论了他的工作之后，她说:“我更喜欢这种方式.”

It took a lot of guidance 和 individual attention at first, 但叶森斯基保持了决心，并在会议前收集了足够的数据，整理了一份摘要. 她收集和分析的数据创造了一幅图景，圣萨尔瓦多的居民和开发商可以利用这幅图景，随着人口的增长和城市化程度的提高，进行合理的土地开发.

“This is a critical issue in the tropics as, over the next 20 years, 他们的人口将会增长，占全球人口的一半多一点,” explained Browning, who gave the keynote presentation on this topic at the conference. “当我们有巨大的人口激增时，侵蚀问题就会出现，这在热带地区尤其重要，因为那里的社区经常依赖生态旅游. 然而，下游的生态系统，如珊瑚礁，是脆弱的，不能承受泥沙.”

最初, 耶森斯基准备了一个海报展示，与会者可以来问她问题，并与她非正式地谈论她的工作. 然而, when she arrived at the conference, 组织者问那些有海报的人是否愿意做五分钟的演讲, speaking to the conference attendees for five, uninterrupted minutes. After much encouragement, Yesensky decided to give it a go.

耶森斯基说:“我真的很害怕，因为我根本没有为此做好准备。. “那里的每个人都知道我很害怕，因为那时我已经和那里的所有人都交了朋友. And then I did it. And it was really great. After the fact, everyone was hyping me up. They were all so proud of me.”

“这对杰西来说显然是一个很好的机会，让她的名字出现在那里，”布朗宁补充道. “如果她在考虑读研，这是一个很好的简历素材. And it's a good opportunity for her to talk to people. That's how you get your first job, that's how you get your first interview, or whatever it is, by building these connections.”

Beyond the conference, the trip included many firsts for Yesensky, who had never traveled outside of the United States before. 她去洞穴探险，乘坐螺旋桨飞机旅行，从船上浮潜.

While some of the trip attendees took a day to relax, 叶先斯基和勃朗宁、凯加一起去探索岛上的丛林，清理一条杂草丛生的小径. Machetes were also a first.

布朗宁说:“我喜欢看到杰西的脸穿过各个区域，看到她是如何识别它们的。. “她盯着电脑屏幕上的地图看了六个月，然后我们站在岛上，她说, ‘T在这里 should be a wall 在这里.’ It’s always a cool connection for students to make.”

这种学生体验是欧共体与研究中心长期合作的核心. Founded by Donald T. Gerace 和 Kathy Gerace, a former EC Archeology professor, EC students began taking field courses t在这里 in the early 1970s. These trips were part of the origin of EC’s three-term schedule, which facilitates student travel in a shortened spring term.

“As time has progressed, we’ve kept up the field course 和 our students stay for four weeks, which is much longer than other schools,” explained Kjar. “Our students cover absolutely everything; history, geology, archaeology, 和 biology. 一切. We really keep them busy while we're t在这里.”

在20世纪80年代，该中心开始在生物学和地质学之间轮流举行会议. The two conferences were combined 和 are now held every other year. EC often sends students to the conference, 让他们有机会在课堂之外获得洞察力和技能.

Now in her sophomore year, Yesensky is continuing to complete research with Browning, shifting her attention to map data on St. 约翰在美国.S. 属维尔京群岛. 布朗宁将于2024年春季在那里上第三学期的课程，耶森斯基希望能有另一次“不可思议”的经历.

这个故事最早出现在2023年版的《mg冰球突破豪华版下载》上. 点击 在这里 了解更多!