Jairo's Adventures

  Babcock Ranch Solar Farm I am someone that is obsessed with solar energy and sustainable energy all in all. Babcock Ranch seems to have this same obsession as I do as the area has its own solar field. This field powers the entire town and whatever extra energy is produced is sent to the grid. Energy is a lucrative and essential resource that we use. One of the most frequent arguments that anti-green energy people use is that green energy, especially solar and wind, would never be sufficient to actually power anything. Babcock Ranch takes this argument and proves it wrong. " We live at the beginning of an energy transition, from a world powered by fossil fuels to one powered by sun and wind" and Babcock Ranch is one of the first places to prove that it is possible for that transition to take place (Robertson, 179). A Rain Garden Babcock Ranch also takes a novel approach to handling South West Florida's water quality problem. Unlike traditional infrastructure which uses c...

 Rookery Bay There is no greater experience than visiting the place where freshwater and salt-water meet. When I was in high school I was blessed to go on a field trip through Rookery Bay. We did some net fishing to see some of the local populations of sea creatures. I was able to hold and touch a batfish during this time and it is such a unique memory that I will never forget. Rookery Bay is an essential part of SWFL's ecosystem. The vast stretches of mangrove trees provide habitats for birds and fish. Here, birds can migrate to raise their young, which is why it is called a rookery. The roots of the mangrove trees provide hiding spots for the sea creatures too. Finally, the mangrove trees themselves prevent storms and hurricanes from eroding the inland soil (Marine and Coastal Field Experience document). So, all in all, the mangroves really do the bulk of the work in maintaining the ecosystem.  In fact, it would not be incorrect to call mangroves a keystone species: "A keyst...

 A Fresh Water Experience      For my Freshwater field-trip, I watched the CREW: Keepers of the Watershed. CREW stands for the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed. The watershed encompasses an enormous region and sustains a variety of flora and fauna. One of the major reasons that CREW is essential to the ecosystem is by its aquifer. According to Sustainability Principles and Practice: "Depletion of aquifers is another threat to biodiversity" (Page 93). Without the watershed or groundwater it supports, the biodiversity of the region would plummet. The plant life would die from lack of water and a chain reaction would cause animals to run out of food. Thus, CREW plays such an incredibly important role in sustaining the biodiversity around it.      CREW is also breathtaking. The age of the Cypress trees in CREW can reach up to several hundreds of years. Some of the trees have been there since the colonial era, and yet they still stand. It leaves me in...

 A Sense of Place For a large part of my life, I have never really felt like I have belonged somewhere. I have been dealing with anxiety problems ever since I was a kid, so it is hard to find a physical location for my sense of place. To figure out and discern what could be my sense of place I decided to go on a meditative walk down FGCU's North Lake lake-side path. During this time I came up with several observations. My Room The view from my room Within these four walls, there are technically seven because of the closet, I feel a sense of place. When my mom was diagnosed with cancer I entered a depressive period in my life. I moved to the dorms here at FGCU after she had surgery. My move to my college dorm was essential for me as it let me escape the dark aura of depression that had developed in my room at home. My dorm room has everything I need and so much of what I am. I have my computer with several monitors, my fridge, and for the first time in my life some posters represent...