About Me

My name is Kelsey Lawler. By the end of 2014 I will have earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. I have had an interest in nature since I was a young kid. My relatives took me on a hike when I was 12 through Secret Mountain, Sedona, Arizona. (Part of the West Fork Trail I took as a kid) This area had some of the most amazing sites I had ever seen. The trip opened my eyes to the possibilities and the beauty that nature holds. Once I began my college career, I knew that I wanted to do something with my life that secured these natural assets for generations to come. My experiences at Stockton have given me the education and the tools to go forth and do just that.

The courses I have taken at Stockton have been relatively diverse yet connected in the environmental field. I have had environmental focuses in ecology, pollution and regulation, wildlife management, geology, physical geography, environmental issues, geography and various other science related courses. Each of these classes required me to do projects and papers related to that field of study. Many also had field experience labs that gave me practical and technical abilities.

My aspirations for the near future include spending as much time as possible learning about and working hands on with wildlife and forest ecosystems. Whether this time is spent volunteering, interning or actually working a professional job, matters little to me. What matters to me is getting experience actually utilizing and building on the skills I have learned in college which I can then bring to the environmental field. Further aspirations include attending graduate school and finding a purpose in the environmental field that serves more than myself.

Resume

My Resume (link)
Courses and related skills:

Pollution and Regulation:
The evaluation of pollution involving soil, air and water. A look at the release of pollutants by natural and anthropomorphic processes as well as the impacts of pollutants on human and ecosystem health. Federal regulations (monitoring and clean-up) involving pollution of soil, air and water. Taught by Tait Chirenje 

Physical Geology:
The study of the Earth, its structure, materials, physical processes and evolution. Specific areas examined included geologic time, rocks and minerals, plate tectonics, soil formation, hydrology, weathering, glaciation and processes affecting coastal and arid regions. This course included a lab. Taught by Michael J. Hozik

Ecological Principles:
The study of ecology, the structure and function of ecosystems, population dynamics, natural selection, energy flow and nutrient cycling. This course used spatial data to explore ecological systems. It included a lab focusing on ecological observations, sampling techniques, data analysis and modeling. Taught by Catherine Tredick.

Physical Geography: 
The study of the atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere. Specific areas included: input of solar energy, global weather, storms, climatic change, formation of soils, water cycle, other chemical cycles. The course used conceptual modeling and the use of spatial data to explore earth systems. The course included a lab focusing on fieldwork, map analysis, computer applications (GIS), quantitative techniques. Taught by Weihong Fan.

Wildlife Management:
This course had a focus on studying the issues wildlife managers have in meeting the demands and expectations of society while maintaining ecological integrity. It focused on threatened and endangered species, humans' actions, values and attitudes affecting wildlife, wildlife management techniques, and implications for management decisions. Taught by Catherine Tredick.

Environmental Issues:
This course studied the environmental issues on the local, national and global levels. These levels were analyzed from the ecological, ethical and economic viewpoints. It focus on biodiversity, toxic and hazardous waste, land-use decisions and economic development. It included a lab concentrating on presenting environmental issues using written, oral and analytic skills. Projects were designed and presented using a variety of platforms (ex: GIS). Taught by Tait Chirenje.

Northwest and Southwest Field Experience:
A prep course with focuses on water, energy and natural resource management in the US Northwest/Southwest. Concentrates on impacts of human development on natural resources. Prep for a 3 week course/internship in the summer of 2014. 
The trip is yet to be completed. Taught by Tait Chirenje.

My professional resume does not include environmental jobs as of yet. My focus for the past few years has been exclusively on education. As of now, I am branching my focus onto professional environmental jobs as I finish my college education.

Physical Geography ArcGIS Lab

The physical geography course I took at Stockton College required that I take a lab course as well. In this lab course, there was a strong focus on being able to use the GIS software. Many of the labs I did for this course required the use of ArcGIS, ArcView, ArcMap and ArcCatalog. Each lab built off of the last leading to an amassed skill in GIS. The lab that included many of the aspects I learned was a lab that required me to collect data, add it to a map in GIS and manipulate that data to find specific features in the data.

In this lab in particular I used the different parts of the GIS software to view, manipulate and analyze the data and maps associated with New Jersey. In ArcCatalog I browsed for maps, data and geodatabases; copy and deleted data; created folders, data layers (shapefiles), and address locators; view and created metadata; and managed the data. When the data was added to ArcMap I manipulated data to solve geographic problems and present my results. A few of my results are below as well as the full lab.

I created a map to show the different municipalities of New Jersey and then isolated the municipalities with populations over 100,000 (there were very few):

I then manipulated the data to show areas in New Jersey with hazardous sites and highlighted the specific municipalities:

My GIS lab (link)

This lab and those like it have been instrumental in my understanding if the GIS software. This course and subsequent GIS courses I will take, will help me in my future environmental endeavors. Being able to create maps with data that can be manipulated on multiple levels will help in many fields that require the management of mass amounts of spatial data.

Lake Fred Watershed Management Plan

Throughout my time at Stockton College I have created two watershed management plans on the Lake Fred watershed. For my environmental issues course I created a comprehensive plan detailing the pollutants associated with the lake and what can be done to improve it. The management I created was based off the 9 elements of a watershed management plan that is used for state management plans. The elements I examined included determining sources of pollutants, expected load reductions, management measures to reduce pollutants, ways to educate and involve the public, scheduling of management measures, technical and financial needs, load reduction criteria and evaluating management measure (monitoring component).

This was a valuable exercise in doing something that is practical in the scientific field. The project required me to think critically about all areas needed to secure the health of Lake Fred. Watershed management plans are used extensively for watersheds that experience pollution. They are an important part in improving and maintaining the health of watersheds. I also gained experience in reading and understanding government documents like the watershed management plans I researched before writing my own. Reading and analyzing skills were necessary to understand what the plan entailed and how I was going to write my own plan. 

Lake Fred, Pomona, NJ
My Lake Fred Watershed Management Plan (link)

Ecological Footprint

In my Environmental Issues class I was required to write an ecological footprint on an object of my choosing. I chose a Yankee Candle as my footprint object because I worked in a candle store for about 5 years. In that time I bought and burned many candles. This was a great project and resource to understand the impacts every day items we use and consume can have on the environment. Especially objects that are unnecessary, such as a candle.

The focus of the ecological footprint was on specific materials used and transportation implications. The materials of a candle I discussed were paraffin, cotton and glass. The paraffin is used as the wax of the candle, most wicks are cotton and Yankee Candles are encased in glass. With each material came great environmental impacts that have been discussed throughout my college career. Some of these impacts and issues include: land resource destruction, land and water degradation (pollution), high pesticide and fertilizer usage, heavy water usage and green house gas emissions.
Although I did not receive the grade I would have liked I learned a lot in my research. Improvements to my footprint project could have been made and they were apparent once my professor pointed them out. Some were even small things like properly citing tables and graphs. This ecological footprint was a valuable resource in understanding human impacts on the environment. By analyzing one object, one is forced to look at the bigger picture of where it comes from, what is needed to make it and what happens when the object is consumed and discarded. It made me think critically about each level of production of an object from acquisition of elements needed to what happens when the object is discarded.

A Yankee Luxury - Ecological Footprint (link)

My current ecological footprint via earthday.org:

Reflection

I transferred to Stockton in 2011 after spending two years at Ocean County College. While I was at OCC I studied Behavioral Science and I thought I was on the tract to an eventual job in Occupational Therapy. This possible occupation filled me with uncertainty and lackluster ambition. As I continued on this path at Stockton I quickly realized I was making the wrong choice in what I wanted to do with my life. I recognized that I was ignoring the ambitions I had as a 12 year old kid hiking in the Sedona mountains. The realization that I was trying to please others rather than myself became apparent. The decision to change my major to Environmental Science in my junior year was not an easy one but a necessary one. I knew that I wanted to wake up every morning with the possibility of working with nature in some aspect and that this objective would empower me. At the time I did not have a clear idea of what that would entail but I knew I would make it happen. 

Erasing three years of college and starting new in a different field was difficult but it has surely been rewarding. I have met amazing students and professors who literally teach me something new everyday. This is exactly what I was expecting from an academic experience. Stockton has provided the resources that I needed to achieve my goals. I was able to work with computer programs I would not have access to otherwise. Measuring, sampling and analyzing tools provided by the school made classes a true hands-on experience. The students and faculty at Stockton have also been a necessary factor in my college education. I have learned so much just from other students and also the personal experiences and education that the professors have to offer. 

Not only have I attained technical knowledge in the environmental field but I have gained personal knowledge and grown as a person. I have developed views and beliefs that I can stand by with the knowledge that I have gained. Furthermore, I  know that I will be able to take all that I have gained from my experiences and apply them to my future endeavors. This, to me, is the epitome of a college education. Regardless of where I find myself in the future, what I have gained from my experiences at Stockton have been priceless and life changing. 

Due to the extensive time, energy, and resources I have put into my college education I will be leaving with the necessary means to continue on to graduate school. At this time, I do not have plans to apply for graduate school but I know that it is a possibility and that is very reassuring. I would like to gain more hands-on knowledge and experience when I graduate in the fall in order to determine what I would like to focus on in graduate school.