{"id":62,"date":"2025-12-09T22:36:31","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T22:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sarahburkinshaw.com\/?page_id=62"},"modified":"2025-12-10T20:07:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T20:07:38","slug":"projects-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sarahburkinshaw.com\/?page_id=62","title":{"rendered":"Projects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Field Work & Lab Work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As I have progressed in my educational career as a scientist, I\u2019ve gotten to take a wide variety of classes that involve both field work and lab work. I\u2019ve had many hands-on experiences with topics like chemistry, geology, and environmental science. Because of all these experiences, I feel as though I am a better scientist because of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chemistry lab experiences have taught me to use critical thinking and extreme quantitative reasoning skills. It has pushed me further in problem solving and collaborating than most of my other classes, and has taught me that lots of scientific topics\u2013 although different\u2013  can be related to each other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have the most experiences in geology labs, since geology is a special interest of mine. Because of field work in classes, I\u2019ve had the opportunity to travel all around the Fredericksburg, Virginia area and use observation skills and data collection and data analysis skills. For example, a project I had was to evaluate marsh development in Colonial Beach, VA. I got to take part in obtaining a marsh core, and performing multiple methods of analysis like magnetic susceptibility and loss on ignition in the lab. The whole process of that piece of field and lab work strengthened my skills in following scientific procedures, data collection, observation, critical thinking, and data analysis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In environmental science, I\u2019ve had the opportunity to do field work abroad as well. In the spring of 2025, I got scuba certified with PADI to do conservation work in Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands. I took classes learning about reef ecosystems and their importance, then about reef conservation. By the end of the field trip, I had learned how to maintain coral gardens and out plant new corals to rebuild damaged reefs. This experience furthermore strengthened my communication, problem solving, and equipment handling skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos from Bonaire by Dr. Pamela Grothe and Ben Schwartz<\/p>\n\n\n\n