Just prior to the start of summer, 14 UF students traveled to the Okefenokee Swamp in southern Georgia with Terry Schwaner, Ph.D., dean of the College of Sciences, and Bethany Henderson-Dean, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology.    

Schwaner wanted students to experience the geography and wildlife of a swamp and reminded them that this part of northwest Ohio used to be the Great Black Swamp before it was drained.    

Henderson-Dean pointed out that the Okefenokee Swamp nearly was lost because of the logging industry, but the land was reclaimed and restored. She hoped the students would gain an appreciation of the fragile ecosystem of the swamp.    

While in Georgia, students traveled by canoe to look at alligators. They saw large alligators sunning themselves as well as mother alligators with a nest of small babies. “The only thing between us and the alligators was the canoe,” said senior pre-veterinary medicine and chemistry major Erica Giles, who may pursue a conservation-focused career as a result of the trip.    

The students also searched for snakes. “When we’d see a snake or a lizard, we would stop and barrel out of the van to see it,” commented sophomore pre-veterinary medicine major Michael Pesato. “It got a little intense, and we would all end up running in and out to catch a glimpse and hold some snakes.”    

Henderson-Dean and Schwaner enhanced the trip with their wealth of knowledge. Both made a point to teach students about the variety of birds, reptiles and plants the group saw in the swamp.    

“I would do it again in a heartbeat,” said Pesato.