Updates from the 2026 Inaugural Field Research and Conservation Maymester

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A group of students and instructors sitting on a boat hold up a UGA flag.

Greetings from Key Largo, Florida!

A group of students holding a UGA flag sit on a pier over water.

Image 1: Field Research Techniques and Conservation Maymester 2026 cohort at Nest Key island in Everglades National Park. 

 

Welcome to Field Research Techniques and Conservation! This Maymester, Dr. William Norfolk taught the inaugural run of this new Domestic Field Study (DFS) program designed to teach students the fundamentals of conducting biological field research through experiential learning. The program features a combination of lectures, labs, boat, and snorkel trips each centered around the collection of data related to modern issues in marine conservation.

Students began their journey in Athens, GA where they worked to design and plan a field research project of their choosing to be conducted during the travel portion of the course. After planning, students traveled to beautiful Key Largo, FL for an 8-day field season at the MarineLab Environmental Education Center. Onsite, students worked to complete their planned research project and participated in the facility’s citizen science monitoring program. 

With (mostly) cooperative weather, students had the opportunity to visit numerous unique habitats of the Florida Keys including seagrass beds, mangrove forests, nearshore hardbottom sites, patch reefs, spur and groove bank reefs, and the open ocean. 

 

A student diving underwater measures seagrass height.

Image 2: Student measuring seagrass coverage and canopy height using a quadrat and transect lines in the Florida Bay. 

 

Students sit on a boat among mangroves.

Image 3: Students exploring the mangrove jungle and canopy before snorkeling at a nearby site in the Florida Bay.  

 

A group of students in knee-deep water hold a net containing a fish.

Image 4: Students collecting organisms caught while beach seining at Nest Key island in Everglades National Park. 

 

A group of students observe algal specimens in a bucket.

Image 5: Students searching for marine invertebrates hiding in Neogoniolithon strictum, a calcareous algae found surrounding the coastline of Rodriguez Key.

 

A snokler observes a school of fish on a reef.

Image 6: Student observing a school of Atlantic Blue Tangs (Acanthurus coeruleus) on Grecian Rocks reef in Key Largo, FL. 

 

Two students free dive in open ocean.

Image 7: Students diving into the open ocean (~300ft water depth) outside of the bank reef line in Key Largo, FL. 

 

A group of students and instructors on a boat display a UGA flag.

Image 8: Field Research Techniques and Conservation Maymester 2026 cohort on a backcountry sunset trip to Everglades National Park.

 

If you are interested in learning more about this program, please reach out to Dr. Norfolk at (William.norfolk@uga.edu). Recruitment for the 2027 cohort will begin in early Fall 2026. Please keep an eye on the DFS program brochure (Field Research Techniques and Conservation) for more information regarding upcoming application deadlines, interest meetings, and required application materials.