{"id":10556,"date":"2019-07-19T17:31:41","date_gmt":"2019-07-19T17:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=10556"},"modified":"2019-07-19T17:31:41","modified_gmt":"2019-07-19T17:31:41","slug":"utrgv-marine-science-summer-camp-offers-closeup-look-at-marine-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=10556","title":{"rendered":"UTRGV Marine Science Summer Camp Offers Closeup Look at Marine Life"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Area children this summer are aboard the R\/V Ridley, UTRGV\u2019s floating classroom, to learn about marine life up close and in a hands-on environment through the university\u2019s Coastal Studies Lab summer camps. Children attending use a touch-tank to view and interact with the marine critters pulled up in nets, and get to study plankton under a microscope. They also participate in fun learning projects like hermit crab races and fish painting. Photo: David Pike\/UTRGV<\/p><\/div>\n

by Maria Elena Hernandez<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Alison Brovold\u2019s children weren\u2019t the only ones who learned from the UTRGV Marine Science Summer Camp.<\/p>\n

After the first day of the two-day camp, the McAllen family talked about pelicans, and Brovold\u2019s children, Emil and Vivian, decided to name a pelican \u201cGular.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said, that\u2019s the word for the skin between their beak and their neck that makes their pouch,\u201d Brovold said. \u201cAnd my husband Googled it, and it\u2019s true, sure enough. We didn\u2019t know that.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said her children enjoyed their time at the marine camp, and she and her husband enjoyed the learning opportunity available.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe like science a lot in our family, so we were just really excited to find a camp that combines some science with marine ecosystems,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

As part of the camp, participants rode the university\u2019s floating classroom vessel, the R\/V\u00a0Ridley<\/a>, explored aquariums at the UTRGV Coastal Studies Lab on South Padre Island, conducted freshwater and saltwater comparisons at the SPI Birding Center and Nature Center, and visited Sea Turtle Inc.<\/p>\n

Shelby Bessette is program manager of the UTRGV Coastal Studies Lab and leader of the summer camps, which continue until July 31.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that the campers connect to the environment and learn to love the aquatic animals and the wildlife that\u2019s in the area,\u201d she said, \u201cand learn to be better environmental stewards and good examples to others.\u201d<\/p>\n

While on the Ridley, a university research vessel, camp participants got a closeup look at sea creatures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did a trawl and picked up some fish and crabs and other critters, so everyone got to touch that and explore it,\u201d Bessette said.<\/p>\n

They also collected plankton, which campers studied under a microscope. At the UTRGV Coastal Studies Lab, they raced hermit crabs and made fish prints.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw the fish prints that they made. They\u2019re beautiful,\u201d Brovold said. \u201cThey were so excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

UTRGV is hosting more camps throughout the summer. You can see a list of camps available at\u00a0utrgv.edu\/camps<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Maria Elena Hernandez RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS \u2013\u00a0Alison Brovold\u2019s children weren\u2019t the only ones who learned from the UTRGV Marine Science Summer Camp. After the first day of the two-day camp, the McAllen family talked about pelicans, and Brovold\u2019s children, Emil and Vivian, decided to name a pelican \u201cGular.\u201d \u201cThey said, that\u2019s the word […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-valley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10556"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10558,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10556\/revisions\/10558"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}