In this picture, I see the art that is within the riparian buffer. It’s a red metal abstract structure. Behind it is a bridge with a small tunnel underneath it, and it front of it is a small, walled-off rocky area. 

In this picture, I noticed how the art looks out-of-place because it’s man-made in an all natural environment, but that it was made so that it almost blends in. 

I think someone would interpret this as man’s interference in the environment, but while we usually think of that as a negative thing, I believe that this picture shows how our influence can be beneficial. 

This image represents a point of pride because I was proud that my University/the city I live in puts art in places, even when nobody might ever see it. It shows that our community cares about the upkeep of our surroundings. 

I think this picture is about the beauty that can be found when humanity makes an effort to make our community and environment better, and when we truly care about it. 

This picture shows an exit point for water traveling underground under the campus into the stream. On a hot, dry day such as this one, there is little water flowing through it. However, this reminded me of the stream under the bridge near Bolton when it was raining heavily a couple weeks ago. The volume of water passing through at that time must have been hundreds of times greater than what do on a day with no rain. This pipe was smaller than the ones under the bridge near Bolton, which leads me to believe that this area collects less water than the Bolton one, possibly due to the size of the watershed in this area. Seeing that water travels above ground after being underground makes me question the cleanliness of the pipe system, as any contaminants underground would be brought into the stream. I believe that the community should have a better understanding of the pollutants that they could be allowing into streams here on campus.

This is an image of the culvert behind Bolton Dining Commons. The photo was taken on the bridge over the culvert. In this picture, I see a hidden culvert towards the back of the photo with a small stream coming out of it. What stuck out to me in this photo is the cleanliness of the area. Thousands of UGA students pass in and out of Bolton and walk across this bridge. Especially with Bolton being a dining hall, I assumed there would be some level of trash in the stream, but it is very clear. I thought it was impressive that there was no debris in this culvert as it would be so easy for a student to toss something aside on their way out of Bolton. Someone may pass this culvert and think nothing of it other than a stream that makes their walk to class a little more appealing. What they don’t know is that this stream contributes to the UGA watersheds and is very important in how the Athens area attains fresh water. The culvert is an important asset in maintaining the campus water flow. When I view this picture, I see the respect the students and faculty of UGA have for its environment. I feel at peace when I look at this picture knowing that UGA values preserving the environment. This photo is about maintaining a healthy environment in which the water is clean and flows smoothly. It is about always finding ways to better our campus environment.

1. In this picture, I see a drain with a sign.
2. What I notice in this picture is that most drains do not have a sign in front of them.
3. What this picture makes me think about: What do you think someone would interpret this at first? I think people are often lazy and might throw something down into the drain that flows into the river before even reading it. 🙁 I hope the sign makes people think more about what they dispose of and how they dispose of things.
4. When I look at this picture, I feel: I feel confused as to why anyone would ever dump anything (whether it’s trash, food, etc.) down a drain.
5. I think this picture is about: This picture is very self explanatory. A drain with a caption.

• 

In this picture, we can see a sidewalk storm drain opening with a sign that says “NO DUMPING! DRAINS TO RIVER.” At first, I only noticed it because we were supposed to find it for the scavenger hunt. However, after considering it more, I realized it is highly representative of the dangers and occurrence of water contamination on our campus and elsewhere. If this signage exists, it is most likely because there has been lots of dumping of waste in the past, which has thus drained to the river and dirtied our water sources. It is important for our campus to have these labels, but it still makes me concerned about the dumping that has occurred in the past (or that will occur in the future when the sign is inevitably ignored). Too often, we do not consider how the water – and the pollutants that enter it – are cycled through our environments. However, waste doesn’t simply disappear, and it surely doesn’t belong in our rivers on campus. I hope these signs around UGA are succeeding at preventing our waste drainage, therefore protecting our water sources. This image represents our school’s awareness of water contamination risks and its efforts to decrease them, which I am so glad to have seen during our Watershed Walk field trip!

In High School, I took AP physics and AP Biology. I also took honors biology and chemistry as an underclassman. I really loved AP Biology because my teacher was very engaging and interesting. He was so captivating and really made the class enjoyable.

I would love to learn more about the environmental systems of the world through this class. I am so excited to see the biology concepts throughout the UGA campus and the Athens community.

I am very interested in learning about the tailgating project. I am a huge football fan and will be participating in tailgating this fall. Because of this, I think it will be a unique experience to explore how to control litter during Game days and protect the environment. I think this project is really important for all UGA students to be aware of.

I will learn how to better protect my environment and make sure that the UGA campus remains beautiful and healthy.

I want to learn a lot about genetic engineering. I think it is very interesting to learn about as it is becoming more prevalent in society today. I also think that talking about it is important because people have diverse opinions about it, and great discussions come out of this topic.