Spanish Flu and the Asiatic Clam

I was surprised to see evidence of how devastating the Spanish Flu was in 1918. My group searched a couple of plots in the cemetery, and at one point we saw about four or five gravestones in a group that all had people who passed away in 1918...one was even an infant grave. We also found a fair number of deaths in 1917 and 1919, which I feel could have still been due to the flu, even though its most prominent year was 1918.

The Asiatic Clam's scientific name is corbicula fluminia. It is an invasive species, brought to North America in 1924 by Asian immigrants who ate it. 

Hitchiti Experimental Forest

Sadly, I don't have my picture of me and Mitch hugging our tree :(

The hike at Hitchiti was unexpectedly fun for me. I don't see myself as a very "naturey" person usually, but the forest was very pretty. It was also nice to be with someone who can explain the flora so that it doesn't all just blend together. Walking in the woods is a lot more interesting when you know what you're looking at :)

I found it particularly interesting to see the pine trees that had been destroyed by the Southern Pine Beetle. When we see trees stripped or fallen, we usually assume that the destruction is the product of something man-made, so it was interesting to see that happen in nature as well. 

Adventures Around Campus

5 Species of Trees:
1. Cherry Blossom Tree
2. Tulip Tree
3. Oak Tree
4. Ginko Tree
5. Bradford Pear Tree

5 Species of Plants
1. Bermuda Grass
2. Ivy
3. Azalea Bush
4. Holly Bush
5. Daffodils

5 Types of Rocks
1. Granite
2. Feldspar
3. Quartz
4. Gneiss
5. Sandstone

5 Species of Animals
1. Squirrel
2. Cockroach
3. Owl
4. Hawk
5. My cat when my roommates brought her to my flag football game last semester :)

5 Soil Erosion Danger Areas
1. Hill behind intramural fields
2. Area next to new parking lot (by baseball field)
3. Grassy area behind MEP parking lot
4. Hill leading up to quad from Coleman Ave.
5. Hill leading up to parking lot behind Engineering Building (across from tennis courts)

Burgess Shale

The Burgess Shale Formation is one of the worlds most celebrated fossil fields. It is located in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia. It is one of the earliest fossil beds containing the imprints of soft-parts.

The pictures are of the following fossils: anomalocaris, wiwaxia, hallucigenia, opabinia, waptia, and marella.

Water Cycle Blog

This is a picture of the water cycle. Also known as the hydrologic cycle, this is the continuous movement of water from sources like ground water, lakes, oceans and rivers to the air and back again. Without evaporative cooling, we would have a much higher surface temperature due to greenhouse gasses and a much hotter planet.

Soils Blog

http://soils.cals.uidaho.edu/soilorders/

Link to the 12 soil orders of the world.

This is an example of red clay, a prominent soil type in Georgia.

The Munsell soil chart is used to determine the hue, value, and chroma of soil.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munsell_color_system

This is a soil map of Georgia.

http://www.landhelp.info/documents/DichotomusKey6.pdf?PHPSESSID=f78117b04cbe1d39e82c3dc3cf85cf1e

Soil dichotomous key.

Soil texture chart.

Extremophile Blog

An acidophile is an organism that thrives in extremely acidic environments, usually at pH 2.0 or below. Lactobacillus is important in producing lactic acid and is found in the human body in mouth and intestines.