Category: Introductions

Introduction: Maria Brown

by mbrown411

I have never been an animal person and I felt as though this community partner service experience would broaden my horizon. That is why I chose Wild Nest Bird Rehab for this course. Wild Nest Bird Rehab is a nonprofit organization dedicated to rehabilitating Georgia’s injured and orphaned birds for release back to the wild. For example if a bird hits a car or window or gets an eye infection someone would be able to drop them off here to get the bird(s) proper treatment by professionals then be released back into the wild.

I kept gravitating to this organization because I felt this organization would be the most memorable. When I get older and look back on my college years, I feel like this organization will be one of the memories that brings a smile to my face. 

Now that I’ve been to the facility a couple times I have learned so much by engaging, listening and asking questions but most importantly being surrounded with other people who have the interest of birds with intense passion. I am most excited for baby bird season and helping feed them. I can’t wait to learn how to properly handle and care for them, from feeding techniques to seeing their tiny beaks open wide and hearing a bunch of soft chirps.

So far I have learned how to hold a bird, different infections birds in the sanctuary are prone to, the variety of foods birds eat such as seeds, fruits, and insects, unique characteristics of each bird, differences in size, weight, and temperament among the bird species, how to give birds medicine, how to tell if a bird is comfortable or stressed, and how birds communicate vocally and with their body language. I also saw how to make the different salads, how to do the laundry, unload and reload the dishwasher, sterilization procedures, cleaning cages, birds being fed and most importantly, knowing where the gloves are in each room.

One thing I hope to learn/witness is how my perception of birds changed after this experience. From my starting point being honest ignorance to gaining a deeper appreciation for their intelligence, personalities, and the vital role they play in nature.

Introduction: Chibogu Izuora

by cizuora1

Hello Everyone,

My name is Chibogu Izuora, but you can call me Chibby. I in all honesty was not expecting that I would be in this class this semester because I had other plans; however, I found my way here. It definitely has been an experience being in this class while reading all the texts and understanding what even the importance of saving nature and focusing on ecology is. As a child, my father and grandfather both owned farms back in Nigeria and so I have grown up with nature and walking around and cleaning the environment. I actually quite love science and have been very passionate bout it for as long as I remember and I have loved teaching for probably even more.

I am super elated to work with Dunwoody Nature Center because it ties my passion and also helping others and educating children all together. I have been thinking of the problems that they would like to address to the community, and I thought about all the problems in the book Believers (though I do not agree with every view, I do agree that faith and God definitely plays a big role in the environment). So, I am excited for this!

 

Introduction: Maymuna Sabree

by msabree6

Introduce yourself to the GSU community beyond this class. Tell readers a little bit about yourself, how you selected the course, and what you’re learning so far. Include a picture of yourself if you want! That will make the post more visually engaging. 

  1. Hello everyone! My name is Maymuna Sabree. I am a second-year student at Georgia State studying Public Policy. I grew up here in Atlanta and even went to Highschool near GSU’s Atlanta campus. One of the biggest reasons I was drawn to this course and this organization is the opportunity for hands-on work in non-human natural habitats. I want to get my hands dirty—literally. I have a deep emotional attachment to all living creatures and ecosystems, and I am eager to play an active role in conservation efforts. I am interested in seeing and partaking in actionable projects that expose me to best practices and ideologies surrounding “nature” and the environment in the context of the human world. 

 

Tell readers a little bit about your community partner. Why are you interested in them and the work they do? What have you learned about your organization so far? Are there any service projects or particular goals with which you’re excited to help your community partner? What do you hope to learn from your service assignment? (You can borrow some language from your matching survey responses if it’s helpful here.) 

2. I am excited to learn anything and everything I can from this experience. I am a firm believer in unexpected blessings and lessons. Seeing that this opportunity is already in a field of interest to me, I am sure that anything I grasp while working with any of these organizations will be beneficial. However, I must admit that I am romanticizing the idea of working boots on the ground, hands in the soil -for environmental preservation with community. This is exactly what WAWA does with their community education programs, when they tend to urban forests and conduct research on the urban natural landscape. 

Introduction: Deja Burton

by dburton20

Hi GSU! My name is Deja Burton, and I am excited to share my experience working with Blue Heron Nature Preserve as part of my Honors Service Learning course. I chose this course because of my interest in environmental conservation and of course for the credits! I’ve learned very valuable information in sustainability efforts and kind of the main goal surrounding why a lot of people believe service learning is essential. Visiting Blue Heron with my partner, Jackie, was an enriching experience, as we explored the trails and learned about the organization’s mission to restore and protect their native habitats.

During our visit, we met Kevin McCauley and Chelsea Darling, who guided us through the preserve and educated us on invasive species removal, native plants, and ongoing conservation projects. Two initiatives that stood out to Jackie and I were the Tree Survey and Meadows for Monarchs. Both of these initiatives seem to be aimed at enhancing biodiversity while creating a sustainable landscape. We had great conversation while even touching on  grants and governmental support that help sustain these efforts. After the tour, we enjoyed lunch at a local diner before wrapping up back at their office. I am very glad that I chose this as my community partner to work with and blessed that I received this one as it was my first choice. I’m looking forward to continuing this work and learning more about how community driven conservation efforts make a lasting impact.

Introduction: Aryanna Blount

by ablount14

Hi! My name is Aryanna Blount, and currently, I am a sophomore with a major in Film and a Minor in Theatre. I love to play video games, go on adventures, and hang out with friends and family. Another hobby I have is gardening, which is one of the major reasons why I chose this course. I own over 20 various plants ranging from succulents, trees, flowering, and many more, and during school breaks and the summer, I like to spend most of my free time helping my boyfriend’s mom with her garden, growing a huge arrangement of fruits and vegetables. Another reason why I selected this course is because I have always enjoyed being surrounded by people who have a sense of urgency on ways to help to tackle issues such as climate change or other environmental issues and gain more insight of various perspectives regarding the problems. Nonetheless, I wanted to choose a community partners that would have me challenge myself outside of the usual volunteering I do which are the community gardens or planting more native Georgian trees. This led me to choose to work with Wild Nest Bird Rehab. I was interested in my organization because it opened my eyes to the tedious process of taking in songbirds from various ages and species. Additionally, the organization opened my eyes to how much common native Georgian birds, such as the ruby-throated hummingbird and wood thrush, are becoming endangered due to habitat degradation and many other harmful environmental factors, such as increase usage of pesticides. Additionally, Wild Nest piqued my interest because I have never done animal rehabilitation, and I was interested in learning about the whole process. I am extremely excited to be a part of the whole process of nurturing the birds to health and later releasing them into their natural habitat. My main goal is to at least nurture and release 2 birds during my time at the Wild Nest. I hope to learn more about how to prevent the ascending rates of endangered songbird species. Overall, Wild Nest Bird Rehab is a very welcoming community. I have learnt so much from them already starting out from topics, such as the processes of feeding the birds at different ages, how the different bird species interact with each other in the rehab center and in nature, the anatomy of birds, and many other things. I am so excited to keep working with them and learn more things not only about the organization, but also the various ways to care for the birds within the Wild Nest Bird Rehab.

Introduction: Troy van der Beek

by tvanderbeek1

Hi Everyone,

I am Troy van der Beek, a second year Economics student here at GSU. I am also a member of the Honors college. Through my upbringing, I have always had a deep connection with nature and the environment, as my family and I always spent time together in nature, working on the community garden, or working on our own garden. I decided to take this class, as at GSU, it has been harder to be able to be in nature and have that time for yourself. I was also very excited to talk about urban ecology in Atlanta, as Atlanta is known for being a “city in a forest” due to the high tree coverage we get in many parts of the city, not including downtown.

My community partner is the Georgia Native Plant Society (GNPS), which states their goal as, “promoting the stewardship and conservation of Georgia’s native plants and their habitats.” Liauna and I have not yet started our work, but we have contacted to start our work on Mondays. The work we will be doing is working at the Stone Mountain Propagation facility, which grows native plants from seeds to transplant to different areas. We will also have the opportunity to work on restoration sites to remove invasive plants and plant natives. I am very excited to start work for the GNPS, as I love getting my hands dirty and promoting the growth of native plants allows for a better urban ecosystem for both plants and animals of the city.

Liauna and I have discussed our ideas for a final project, but we have not fully picked our option. After meeting with the organizers of the GNPS, they spoke about the botanical garden at the Decatur campus, and how a project to transplant and sell some of the native plants grown on the Decatur campus. We also have some other ideas from the GNPS survey for the matching, but we will see.

-Troy van der Beek

Introduction: Liauna Kelly

by Liauna

Hey everyone!

My name is Liauna Kelly, and I am a second-year nursing major at Georgia State University. It has been an honor to be a part of the Honors 3280 Service-Learning course with Dr. Finck this semester. Although I have participated in environmental events on and around campus, it is not something that I have been able to do regularly, or as often as I would like to. I found interest in taking this course because I have always wanted to help out in my community, specifically with the environment, but I rarely had a guide to do so in the past. Thus far in the course, I have learned so much about the environment around us and how it is affected by everything we do. A lot of what I have learned has changed my prospective on many things in my day-to-day life and has allowed for growth in my knowledge of nature. This semester, I have been partnered with Georgia Native Plant Society (GNPS), where I will travel to Stone Mountain Park, with the main focus of brining native plants of Georgia to different locations in and around the park. While being with them, I will be able to expand my knowledge of not only plants and our native environment, but also why having native plants is more important in keeping our environment lively, as native plants are their main scope of environmental work. Partnering with GNPS will also allow for me to bring my knowledge back into my local community and share what I have learned during my experience with them, in hopes to make a change in environmental practices around me. I am very excited to take part in this learning experience with GNPS, and I hope it is something I can continue to pursue even after my time in this course!

Introduction: Vic Faraon

by vfaraon1
Photo of Vic Faraon

Hello! My name is Vic Faraon, and I am a senior English major with a concentration in Rhetoric & Composition and a minor in Editing & Publishing. Following graduation, I plan on pursuing a career in the publishing field as a copyeditor.

I selected this course partially because I was already familiar with Professor Finck. However, the description for this course intrigued me the most out of the Honors Service Learning options! While I thoroughly enjoyed the first few weeks of this course, where we read and discussed various texts in class, I am beyond excited to work with my community partner, Concrete Jungle.

Concrete Jungle is a nonprofit organization that distributes fresh fruits and vegetables to local food banks and shelters. They work diligently to address food insecurity in Atlanta by working with various farms and donors. Furthermore, they strive to reduce food waste and educate the greater community on nutrition.

When looking at each community partner matching survey response, I found that Concrete Jungle’s needs aligned closely with my expertise! Concrete Jungle requested an intern to create a marketing plan/tools for their Produce Buyers Club program. Some examples they offered were creating templates for a monthly newsletter or building a social media presence. In my business writing course, I developed digital and physical advertisement samples for a Habitat for Humanity ReStore that relocated to my hometown. I formed a business plan for the ReStore regarding public outreach and advertisement distribution. During this process, I learned how important it is to have an online presence and the benefits of advertising on social media. I believe I have the skills to assist Concrete Jungle in their marketing endeavors, which is why they were my top pick!

However, I was mostly interested in the work they do because I’ve personally dealt with food insecurity in my life. When I first moved to Atlanta for university, I was without a job and living off my summer savings. I frequented our own food pantry here at GSU—shout out to Panther’s Pantry—before I enrolled in the federal work-study program and got a student assistantship! I am forever grateful for those dedicated to addressing food insecurity not only in the university but in the greater Atlanta community. Therefore, I feel very strongly about Concrete Jungle’s mission. I want to break down the barriers to healthy food access and spread the word to families, future volunteers, and donors for Concrete Jungle. I’m hoping to learn more about the best methods to maximize community engagement on the local level and how to develop campaigns that can thrive beyond my time with Concrete Jungle. I am truly eager to embark on my journey with this amazing organization!

Introduction: Jiusi Guo

by jguo22
My selfies!

Hi! My name is Jiusi Guo, or you can call me Jackie! I’m an ESL student who just settled down in Atlanta less than a year ago. With a passion for nature and the molecular basis within it, I’m majoring in biological science at GSU, having fun decrypting the code of life. In my spare time, I love playing the guitar. In the image you can see my stratocaster electric guitar. I always love its warm and thick tone.

I chose to be part of this course simply because I want to learn more about nature. My love for biology is too broad: natural history, botany, and molecular biology (especially genetics). I can only satisfy the last one in my lab, and professional courses and lab work occupy most of my time. Focusing too much on microorganisms and biomolecules, I think sometimes my vision is so “microscopic” that I forget how to appreciate nature like a normal person. Dr. Finck also encouraged me that when I got out of the lab and into the field, my thinking would change. So, why not? Field surveys are always exciting for a biologist – I don’t even have to tell myself I’m a biologist, I’m just a visitor to nature!

I’m honored to work with Blue Heron Nature Preserve this semester. This is the first time in my life to visit somewhere called a nature preserve, and I’m so glad that my first visit is for working, which means I can be directly involved in preserving the environment with the big family of the organization. Kevin McCauley, the main organizer there, even treated me to traditional southern American food! Kevin says that in the spring, everything at BNHP will come to life. Deja and I want to help take care of the meadows here – “Meadows for Monarchs” – to help local pollinators rest and thrive in Atlanta, especially as a transfer station for monarchs during their migration through the year, from Canada to the US. However, we might need to cooperate with some ecology experts who will come in April in order to most efficiently conduct the project, so before that, we are happy to help BNHP with the tree canopy survey. On the other hand, I’m also going to help Chelsea Darling, the marketing manager there, to get some photographs for multimedia promotion. I’m glad my camera can come in handy!

Please take a look at this fancy Heart of Nature at BNHP. It would be even better if you would like to come and see for yourself sometime!

The Heart of Nature

Introduction: Freya Shah

by fshah3

Hello everyone!

My name is Freya Shah, and I am a senior majoring in political science with a minor in economics. My academic and professional interests are based on policy, advocacy, and nonprofit work, particularly in helping marginalized communities through both government initiatives and grassroots organizations. This semester, I enrolled in Honors 3280: Service-Learning Seminar in Urban Ecology and Environmental Conservation with Dr. Finck because I wanted to explore how my background in policy and advocacy can be applied to urban environmental issues. As someone who has lived in a city my whole life, I’ve experienced firsthand the intersection of urban development and nature. Cities can often feel disconnected from the natural world, but despite their concrete landscapes, they can still be spaces where sustainability and conservation efforts make a tangible impact.

Our reading in class of the book Believers: Making a Life At the End of the World by Lisa Wells further helped me understand this perspective, particularly the idea that sustainability does not have to be an all-or-nothing pursuit. The community at TiLT exemplifies this, demonstrating how sustainable practices can be adapted to specific environments without drastic sacrifices. Todd Wynward, the founder of TiLT, stated this idea that for change to succeed in any community, it cannot rely solely on human willpower but must be driven by a deeper commitment rooted in community (Wells, 125). TiLT’s community shows that sustainability isn’t about severing ties with modern life but rather about encouraging resilience, relationships, and a more intentional existence. This idea really resonated with me, especially as I try to live more intentionally and interact with nature in meaningful ways within the city. I’ve realized that living intentionally not only helps preserve our green spaces but also helps build community through united efforts. My work this semester with the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (WAWA) is a step toward this kind of engagement.

For my service-learning project, I am partnered with WAWA, a community-based nonprofit focused on protecting and restoring the natural resources of West Atlanta, particularly in neighborhoods historically affected by environmental degradation. They host events, advocate for policy change, and educate the community about the importance of preserving green spaces. I believe these are essential because they not only highlight the historical challenges faced by these communities but also bring awareness to the policy changes necessary to preserve spaces that matter in our urban environment. I’m excited to contribute to their efforts, particularly through their photo archiving project, where I’ll digitize and categorize historical photographs that document Atlanta’s urban landscape and environmental changes over time. This project involves working with community members to organize and preserve these images, ensuring the history of Atlanta’s green spaces is accessible for future generations. I’m also excited to participate in restoration programs and events, where I’ll help restore spaces through beautification efforts, removing invasive plants, and working hands-on with the community. Through this work at WAWA, I hope to gain a deeper understanding of Atlanta’s natural spaces and history, especially by engaging with community members and living intentionally through sustainability and community-driven efforts.

I look forward to sharing more about my experiences throughout the semester!