My project is called “Virtual Lake Herrick,” and the goal of this project was to create an artistic and educational website that includes information, pictures and illustrations of 5-15 species of various categories of flora and fauna known to exist within and around the Lake Herrick area (a 15-acre, man-made lake on the UGA Campus and part of Oconee Forest Park), including plants, aquatic life, insects, animals, etc. The objective of this website is to provide UGA students and visitors with an interesting, immersive virtual platform that educates them about the natural world of Lake Herrick and how sustainability is at the core of the park. As the project has now been completed, it fulfills that objective and also provides a brief history of the lake, explanations of different interactions within the Lake Herrick ecosystem(s), and an explanation of how Lake Herrick contributes in various ways to the UGA community and beyond (through recreational activities, research, etc.). The link to the website can be found here:
https://virtuallakeherrick.weebly.com
With all that being said, it’s important to note the complex process that my two teammates (Maya Kashapov and Sarah Lopez) and I had to go through to successfully complete this website. First, we had to secure a project partner and faculty mentor to support and guide our work plan, and these two people were the very helpful Kevin Kirshe (Director of the Office of Sustainability at UGA) and John “Brad” Smith (professor at the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources). They provided us with a list of experts, professors, students, funding resources, ideas, etc. to help make our website the best it could be. Next, to begin collecting data for the website, we created charts on Google Docs and divided the workload equally among the three of us. We each were responsible for collecting data on 5-15 species of four categories of flora and fauna. For example, I was responsible for birds, fungi/bacteria, flowering plants and fish. The next step we took was the most time-consuming one; we physically went to Lake Herrick, took pictures of what we observed based on the categories we were responsible for, uploaded them to the shared Google Doc, identified them with their common name and scientific name, then provided 2-3 interesting and relevant facts about them. John Smith helped ensure our identifications and facts were accurate. Once the charts were completed, we began creating the website, using Weebly.com as the platform (since it’s free and user friendly). This involved laying out the organization of the website and portraying the data we’d collected in a beautiful, easy-to-navigate manner. We reached out to multiple artists to help us illustrate some of the species, as we wanted to incorporate art and aesthetics into the website to make it more appealing to viewers and to inspire creativity.
Beyond the website, another intended project deliverable for this capstone was to have the website link formatted as a QR code and printed on signs posted throughout the lake, where visitors could scan the code and easily read about the intricate world around them in real time. However, the implementation of the signs was not completed, as funding could not be obtained in time. Nonetheless, our current project partner and faculty mentor have already agreed to move forward with the implementation of the signs with a future capstone group or any students interested in the project.
While this process was long and complex, it was so much fun! I learned so much about creating work plans and sticking to them with a team, reaching out to various people, developing professional partnerships, collecting data, building websites, etc. And even though this project proved to be intense, I’m so happy I’ve had the opportunity to provide an educational tool to visitors of Lake Herrick and help them learn about the world around them.
Moreover, the concept of sustainability is at the core of all information included on the website, as it involves all three spheres of sustainability. For instance, the website fits into the social sphere because it is meant to make people more conscious of their surroundings and spark conversations about nature’s many benefits and interesting, awe-inspiring tangibles. Sparking conversation brings people together in the simplest way and helps strengthen communities. Additionally, the website potentially provides a free learning tool for marginalized groups, such as people with disabilities who can’t physically walk through the park. This project also fits into the economic sphere, as it is intended to help increase visitor traffic at Lake Herrick, which in turn could increase the value of resources offered by the area. Also, by increasing traffic at Lake Herrick, there may be an increase in needed maintenance, thus increasing job opportunities through Oconee Forest Park, UGA Recreational Facilities and/or Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. Lastly, this project fits into the environmental sphere because it emphasizes the importance of conservation (in fact, sustainability and conservation are explicitly defined and discussed on the homepage of the website), and it encourages humans to interact with nature. The more people observe the world around them, the more aware they are of how their habits or actions may contribute to various environmental issues. Moreover, the more conscious people are of their environment, the more likely they will be active citizens who strive to mitigate those issues and keep the land clean, healthy and vigorous.
Finally, our measure of success for this project was based on collecting data on at least five species for each category of flora and fauna and successfully portraying the data on a completed website that could be shared as an external link on the Warnell website (we did not include the implementation of the signs in our success metrics, because we knew it was bit ambitious). We did successfully identify and provide information on at least five species in every category of flora and fauna, and our website is in fact on the Warnell website! (See the link below). Overall, we are very happy with our work and the relationships we formed over the course of this project, and we hope the website will continue to be used for years to come. We also hope the signs will be implemented through the work of other students in the near future. Lastly, at the core of everything, we just want visitors of Lake Herrick to do what we did during this capstone process: explore and learn. Thankfully, there’s really no end to either of those things.
https://www.warnell.uga.edu/oconee-forest-park