Patrick Tobin | The Crow’s Nest
By Patrick Tobin
Instead of the sealed off classrooms of USF St. Petersburg, students got the opportunity to learn about Florida flora and fauna at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve.
Last Saturday, Compass took a group of students to the preserve for a nature walk with Dr. Ana Arellano of the College of Marine Science. The event was one of several of Compass’ “Learning Journeys,” where the organization partners with USF St. Petersburg professors to bring students into the community.
“We really wanted students to have the opportunity to interact with a professor in an outside setting and also learn about an area around St. Pete, so we chose Boyd Hill,” said Ariel Duhart, a Compass team leader who helped to organize the event.
Duhart reached out to Arellano, who had taught her Biology II class. Halfway through the trip, the students stopped at a group of benches, where Arellano talked about her research with the College of Marine Science and answered questions from students.
Though the walk itself was cut short due to trail closures and confusion with directions, students still had the chance to interact with many animals, including owls, snakes and a bat.
The highlights of the trip were two Eastern Screech-Owls named Brave and Angie. Park volunteers held the owls up to oak trees to demonstrate their camouflage and talked about the importance of crushing cockroaches – the owls’ main source of food – instead of poisoning them, to prevent the toxins from poisoning the owls.
Freshman Peyton Lebron, an environmental science and policy major, brought his camera to take pictures at Boyd Hill. This was Lebron’s second trip with Compass, having toured the Florida Institute of Oceanography on a similar trip during the summer.
“Actually, I’d been planning on going eventually by myself,” said Lebron. “I like what they do, how they make these events for all the students here, and I think it’s a good resource around here.”
