West Windsor  –  October 7-9, 2022 was an educational and exciting weekend for six Mercer County Community College science students. Biology majors Dasha Raywood, Cinder Deni and Jasmine Ceveda, plant science majors Naomi Hed and Elizabeth Reyes, and health science and math major Shaquana Powell were selected to accompany Dr. Jonathan Levine of Princeton University’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology on a grant-funded ecology fieldwork workshop on New Jersey’s Sedge Island.

The students spent three days and two nights with Dr. Levine and other Princeton lab members learning methods in plant ecology and environmental monitoring in dune, marsh, and forest ecosystems on Sedge Island, a pristine wetlands area off Island Beach State Park in Ocean County.

Laura Blinderman, professor of biology at Mercer County Community College and other science department faculty helped identify the Mercer students for the workshop. 

“Sedge Island is a salt marsh ecosystem which is home to a large colony of nesting ospreys and a wide variety of sedges, crustaceans and birds,” said Blinderman. “This was the first time the Princeton Ecology Department provided this opportunity for Mercer students, and it was an incredible experience for the undergraduates,” she said.

The goal of the trip was to allow students to explore field research first-hand and to develop concrete skills the science majors might use as a springboard to obtain summer internships and be considered for highly competitive national undergraduate research programs.

Students were housed in the Sedge Island Ecological Center when they weren’t exploring the island and its environs.

Naomi Hed from Putney, Vermont was one of the participants in the workshop. She is an MCCC freshman transfer student studying plant science. 

“I want to pursue sustainability through plants,” said Hed. “There were several graduate students at the workshop so it was really helpful to talk to them and learn how research works at that level and what the academic tracks are.”

Hed was also impressed by the people who ran Sedge Island.

“It was educational in terms of career path, but also the people who ran Sedge were super knowledgeable about the ecology of the island,” said Hed. “It was super fun.”

Hed recommends that new and incoming Mercer students look out for opportunities like the Sedge Island workshop. 

“It really helped me figure out what my options are,” she said.

Another science student, Shaquana Powell, also enjoyed her stay at Sedge Island. Powell is studying health science and math at MCCC.

“I had a wonderful experience attending the Sedge Island ecology workshop,” said Powell. “All science majors at Mercer can benefit from the workshop.”

Students learned about the opportunity to participate through their science classes and by e-mail. Transportation, housing, instruction and meals where all included. 

“We hope to build a bridge with the Princeton lab for future opportunities,” said Blinderman.

For more information about science majors at Mercer County Community College visit this link. 

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Mercer County Community College student Shaquana Powell was one of six science students who took part in the Princeton University-sponsored October weekend on Sedge Island off Island Beach State Park in Ocean County, New Jersey. (Photo courtesy of Shaquana Powell)

 

During the workshop students learned about ecosystems off the island as well. (Photo courtesy of Shaquana Powell)

 

There was still time for selfies. (Photo courtesy of Shaquana Powell)

 

A Fiddler crab is just one of many inhabitants of the marshlands. (Photo courtesy of Shaquana Powell)