The Grade 12 Environmental Systems and Societies students have had an incredible five days conducting field work at the Coastal Research Station in Ranong.

They have undertaken sampling, identifying and calculating biodiversity of invertebrates in grassland and in the mangroves. The students also used snorkles along the shore in  the areas of seagrass and identified everything they found

Human impact on this environment was also brought home through collecting rubbish from a beach and producing a classification of what was found. The volume of manmade trash was extraordinary and included a huge pile of shoes, fishing equipment, glass bottles, polystyrene, plastic bags and bottles.

The students had some early starts to be out on the rocky shore to look at species distribution, and then look at Limpet morphology on a different part of the shore. The class also went to the estuary to test how factors such as temperature and salinity change as you move closer to the brackish zone.

The group also had the opportunity to stop at the Tsunami memorial, which was a very moving experience.

Thanks to Aj.Simon,  and Dr.Shaw for providing yet another fantastic opportunity for Prem students to apply knowledge in real world situations!