a) My name is Milana Sapozhnikov and I am pursuing a career in the medical field. I aspire to become a doctor and look forward to continue gaining valuable science knowledge through Pre-med courses, but also through outside experiences. I am a Biology major, but would love to take a variety of courses at Brooklyn College to explore my interests and expand my horizons. Even though I am sure that I want to go onto medical school where I can decide what specific kind of doctor I wish to be, college is an opportunity to actively engage in learning about many fields and in turn learn more about the world and the role you will strive to play in it.

b) Through all my grade school years, I became accustomed to learning science in a classroom setting – mostly from teachers and textbooks. I really want this class to encourage me to explore outside of the classroom, especially since I plan to have many years of formal science learning in college and medical school. An important aspect to being a doctor is being open to exploring new methods and being at the forefront of new scientific ideas. Science often scares some students away who think of it as a strict field of study focused on creating laws to explain the world. But science is dynamic and the approaches to science learning are expanding as well. This class will give me an even greater appreciation towards science and the range of approaches to science learning.

c) I was very lucky to get my first choice for the Bioblitz: bird-watching. I have always wanted to try the activity but had no idea how to approach it. With an expert in bird-watching leading the way, a set of binoculars, a guidebook, and my phone camera I was excited to spot interesting bird species and learn a little about each one. I was honestly very surprised by the amount of species we managed to identify during our shift. We identified 23 bird species, including chimney swifts, Northern cardinals, mourning doves, rock pigeons, blue jays, and Canadian geese. The area that was our focus in Central Park was The Ramble, a region apparently known for being a major bird-watching center. We learned about the migratory paths of many of the species and discussed the role of plumage in gender identification for several species. Macaulay teamed up with the Central Park Conservancy and they plan to use the data that all of the groups collected to have a better account of the range of life in the park. But the importance expands from there too. This activity allowed us as students to experience a hands-on approach to learning. It also allowed us to raise public awareness of the tremendous biodiversity present in this city park and encourage efforts to preserve it.

d) The expert who worked with us was volunteering for Bioblitz. His name was James and he was originally from southern England. His day-job is a banker but he has a very adventurous spirit and is passionate about his bird-watching hobby. He loves to travel the world, and see the differences between people’s cultures and the lives they lead. His next trip is to see the Amazon. He loves nature and spending time outdoors educating students about the immense biodiversity one wouldn’t necessarily expect to find within a city park.

e) This activity definitely benefits us as New York City citizens. Bioblitz allowed us to gain insight into how close of a bond everyone has with science on an everyday basis even in the concrete jungle that is New York. I became so much more appreciative of Central Park as a space where science learning can thrive. The park and the experience itself became representative of the fact that all of us can and should become more active members of New York City’s informal science setting. It underscored the importance of focusing efforts on the conservation of Central Park and other New York City gems like it.

f) I really enjoyed the experience and would definitely love to do more activities like this in the future. It took me out of my comfort zone, as I have never been camping or hiking before. It took me a little while to adjust to the bugs that were flying around but it was very nice to explore parts of Central Park that I had never been to. When I would visit, I would stay on the main paths and would never cross through bushes like we did during our shift. I really liked what a beautiful day it was (minus the few minutes of light rain) and really enjoyed meeting people from different campuses within the Macaulay family. I was most surprised by how knowledgeable our guide was. Just by looking at a little bird quite a distance away James knew what bird it was, sometimes even the gender, and many facts about it. James brought science to life and provided us with a first-hand account of the birds that were depicted in our guidebook. I am very grateful I was able to be a part of this amazing opportunity to learn about New York City in ways I couldn’t imagine were possible.