BCU Students Study in Outdoor Classroom in Everglades

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Six Briar Cliff University biology students spent their spring break exploring swamps and coastal habitats during an independent study trip to unique subtropical ecosystems located in the Everglades. 

“We designed the trip to cover the diversity of habitats within the Everglades from the south shore of Lake Okeechobee to the mangrove swamps along Florida Bay,” said Brian Hazlett, Ph.D., director environmental science and professor of biology. “We included the Big Cypress Swamp and coastal habitats, such as found at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island,” Hazlett added.

Hazlett led the class through the Everglades along with Ted Wilson, Ph.D., BCU assistant professor of biology.

 “One of the amazing ecological aspects of the everglades is the combination of animals that it supports,” said Wilson. “For example, nowhere else on the planet can you find natural populations of alligators and crocodiles in the same lake or pond.”

The biology field trip was a BCU independent study course in which students experienced subtropical ecosystems and got a first-hand look at impacts humans have on them.

“It was fun to learn outside the classroom and to see the different species in person, rather than in a textbook,” said Alicia Dreyer, BCU environmental science and biology major.

While this was BCU’s first field trip to the Everglades, it was the eleventh spring break ecology field trip to date. Previously, students and faculty have studied in South and West Texas.

BCU offers independent study programs in subtropical and desert ecology in alternating academic years. Students enrolled in Desert Ecology during the 2008-09 academic year at Briar Cliff will travel to West Texas. For more information on these programs and to enroll, contact BCU Office of Admissions at 712-279-5200 or admissions@briarcliff.edu.

Briar Cliff University is a Catholic institution with an enrollment of more than 1,100 students from 26 states and four countries.  Students are educated in the Franciscan tradition of excellence in the liberal arts and career preparation in an environment of care and compassion. For more information, please visit www.briarcliff.edu.