Virginia Coast Field Trip 

Trip length
Three days, two nights. 

Destination
Wallops Island, Virginia, Marine Science Consortium 

Itinerary
Day 1: Getting Started 
Upon arrival to the island, students get settled into their dorms and meet up in the lab to unpack. In the afternoon students visit Assateague Island and learn about the ecology of a high energy beach and discus waves and currents. After dinner at the cafeteria, students meet up in the lab to explore plankton from a water sample collected earlier in the day. Students get a kick out of using the microscope to exam live organisms darting across the field of view. Photographing the organisms is always challenging and lots of fun! 

Day 2: Mudflats, Beaches and Boating! 
After breakfast at the cafeteria we explore the salt marsh and mudflat communities of Tom’s Cove. This is where students get dirty! Up to their knees in mud and sand, sifting through the benthos to catch and examine razor clams, crabs and other critters. After a packed lunch in the field, we will head of onto the water. During our cruise in the cove we will collect water samples for water quality analysis, collect plankton to view back a the lab, take a benthic grab to compare to the mudflats, and trawl for fish. During the boat trip, students will learn the skills of navigation and chart reading. After dinner, we will spend the evening examining and identifying the organisms collected on our cruise. 

Day 3: Hiking along the Atlantic Coast
After breakfast we will take a Natural History Beach Walk at north Dike area of Assateague Island, where students will walk along maritime forest, through dunes, and finally to the beach. Lastly, the trip ends with a beachcombing session along the Atlantic coast where students delight in the treasures found along this wild shoreline.

Estuarine Field Ecology Trip

Trip length 
Two days, one night.

Destination
Southern Maryland. Camp in Jefferson-Patterson Park on the Patuxent River. 

Itinerary
Day 1: Fossils
During the trip down to Southern Maryland we will stop at Flag Ponds County Park to learn about Chesapeake Bay History, do a little beachcombing and fossil hunting. After a packed lunch we will get on out way to Jefferson Patterson Park where we will stop for a tour of the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory. Then, we will set up camp and prepare Dinner. After dinner we will have an evening discussion of the following days activities. 

Day 2: Research Cruise
After breakfast we will break camp and head out on a research cruise on board Morgan State University’s R/V Liedy. This cruise onto the estuary gives students the opportunity to learn about the environmental history of the Bay and gain hands on experience using scientific gear. During the cruise students will use scientific equipment to take water quality data such as, dissolved oxygen, temperature, salinity and turbidity. We will dredge for oysters and trawl for fish.