Hej!  I'm Amy, a senior at the University of Florida majoring in environmental science with a minor in soil and water science.  I look forward to studying hydrochemistry in graduate school, hopefully in California or Colorado.  My first research experience involved characterizing the water quality of sediment and agricultural retention ponds on a rural college campus in Lorman, Mississippi sponsored by NOAA.  This past spring semester I got the opportunity to take part in a critical zone-style research project studying the surface nitrogen flux across a regimen of land uses and fertilization regimen at the agricultural teaching farm on my campus.  My interest in hydrochemistry stems from a fascination with holistic understanding and studies of ecosystems, which are greatly shaped by water availability and quality.

This summer, I'm developing a study on mercury accumulation across the ecotones of a thaw gradient in Stordalen Mire (including terrestrial vegetation, subaquatic vegetation, sediments, and soils).  This is my first time out of North America and I'm very enthusiastic about my first experience abroad and my research project.