Kimberly Pierce, a graduate student at FGCU and the first recipient of our Naples Garden Club Endowed Fellowship at FGCU, gave an outline of her research at our April meeting. Kimberly is studying in the Department of Marine and Ecological Sciences, concentrating in Coastal Ecology and Geomorphology. She was very enthusiastic about her project to develop a science and technology-based lesson plan for undergraduate non-science majors. It will incorporate native plant identification at the Naples Botanical Garden, introduction to survey methods with a GPS and subsequent mapping applications with a geographic information system (GIS). Although specifically designed for use with Environmental Biology classes at FGCU, this three-stage activity will be broad enough in scope to be applicable to other courses at FGCU, other universities, and potentially to non-university groups visiting Naples Botanical Garden.
Published June 30, 2011