About Me

My name is Julian Pozzi and I am a graduate at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. I received my Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies and it is my goal to use my degree in the field of wildlife conservation. I have been studying the environment for four years now with two strong environmental programs, two years at Washington College in the state of Maryland and my junior and senior years at Stockton. I have expanded my knowledge on the dimensions of the environment through the courses provided by both schools. Both schools’ courses presented great hands on opportunities in studying the environment. Washington College provided me with the chance to become familiar with working in a lab. Stockton on the other hand has brought me out in the field to gain actual field experience.

I have always been one to enjoy the outdoors which is what clearly lead to me studying the environment. My love for the outdoors began when I was young. I enjoyed fishing, camping, and hiking as a little guy. The past year I have enjoyed hiking and camping a lot. This summer i went on a class trip to the southwest where we did a lot of hiking and camping.The trip has prepared me so much for jobs which may require working in rough conditions.  I am glad to say that I made a wise choice in choosing this field. The accumulative knowledge I have received in my four years at college has put me in a wonderful position to put it to the test in the working field. I feel that I am certainly ready to study wildlife in hopes of conserving what is left of Earth’s very delicate ecosystems. If I want to go into an entirely different direction I know that I am prepared enough to take my knowledge elsewhere. This is what was great about studying the environment in two excellent programs as they touched on an array of fields providing me with many opportunities. I am most interested in wildlife conservation but since being at Stockton I have developed an interest in sustainability.

Skills

My experiences at both Washington College and Stockton College have provided me the opportunity to gain important skills which will prepare me for a career in environmental science. I experienced a lot of lab work in my two years at Washington College. The majority of my lab experience took place in the biology lab where I studied the effects of pesticides on the microbial life living in freshwater habitats. Stockton has provided me with the most important hands on experience due to the school’s location. I have had many opportunities to go out in the field. Stockton has a larger than normal campus that is made up of Pineland forest where I have had the opportunity to study and gain an understanding of its ecology and geological processes.

In my Ecological Principles lab I had the chance to experience being in the field. I learned how to identify over 50 species native to New Jersey’s Pinelands using a field guide. I now know where to anticipate on finding many of these species based off different natural elements. Elements like elevation, moisture, and the density of the forest predetermine where a lot of these species can grow. In one lab I learned techniques in sampling mud and sticks from creeks to find different insects. I learned how to collect water samples so it can be tested for its pH level and salt concentration. This experience helped me later on in the semester for a group project. Our group surveyed Stockton’s amphibian populations and determined where they would most likely be found based off of pH levels from accumulated water samples of the different vernal ponds.

 One class in particular at Stockton has provided me a different but just as important type of experience. In Environmental Issues I have gained experience in the field of sustainability. I learned the extent of auditing a residential home’s energy consumption by using a specific auditing program. I also worked with a group in planning a waste audit for Caesar’s Casino in Atlantic City. I am currently working with a group of students in developing a rain garden. The garden will decrease Stockton’s contribution to runoff and develop environmental awareness for Stockton’s student body.

Reflection

I transferred to Stockton in the fall semester of 2009. I was a junior at the time and transferred my credits from Washington College. Washington College was a small private school in Maryland which had an excellent environmental program. When I decided to transfer to a larger school closer to home it was important for me to choose a school with a program which would meet the standard set by Washington College. Stockton was it. It was a highly recognized program and offered the opportunity to take courses that concentrate in wildlife. Wildlife has always been important to me and Stockton has definitely prepared me for a possible career in working at conserving wildlife. My Ecological Principles course with Professor Cromartie has been my most important experience thus far in my studies. I have experienced identifying wildlife and the process of logging my observations on a daily basis. The field work it has provided me with has allowed me to get my feet wet in working in the field. My first experience in working with wildlife occurred in a group project where we had to survey Stockton’s campus for amphibians. I enjoyed the experience and it showed me that this kind of work could be my future. Not only did I learn valuable field experience from this project but I learned how to work with others as well. This is something I am certain will be a part of my future career. Stockton has provided me many opportunities to work with others which help in improving my communication skills and my cooperative abilities. If I am to work with conserving wildlife I know what to expect in working with fellow scientists.

Coming into college I had a very good idea that I wanted to work in conserving wildlife. It wasn’t until recently that I have become very satisfied with the other environmental fields I have studied. Environmental Issues and Environmental Planning are courses that touch on all the different fields. Environmental Planning went into so much depth about the planning of the many environmental issues and Environmental Issues went to great lengths of the different effects from the different issues. I have now gained an interest in sustainability thanks to these classes. Environmental Issues is giving me the opportunity to work in a group to construct a functioning rain garden. This project requires a lot of planning and knowledge of ecology. I am on the planning side of the project and my duties involved choosing which plants to purchase for the rain garden and where to plant them. It is projects and courses like this that make me feel confident with what I am learning because I know that I am prepared for other careers other than wildlife conservation if I needed to go into another field.

This summer I traveled through the Southwest studying the water, energy, and natural resource management and stewardship issues in the US Southwest. Our main focus was learning about the ecosystem of the Colorado River and the effects caused by damming the river.We also had the chance to learn about the different issues facing the National Parks in the West. It was amazing to learn about these issues in the prep course we had during the Spring semester and then had the ability to see the problems hands on. For instance being at Rockies Mountain National Park and actually seeing the effects on the ecosytem caused by the overpopulated elk heard. The experiences I took in from this trip were extremely valuable. I am now an experienced hiker and I feel I can cope with many different environmental conditions. I go into great detail in another blog which outlines my entire trip in the West which covers everything I learned from being in the West for 25 days. http://pozzitrip.blogspot.com/

Artifact #1- Ecology Lab

              My ecology lab involved walking around Stockton’s wilderness and keeping a log of the wildlife I observed. The very first lab of the semester I learned how to properly record the necessary information for a daily log. Before documenting observations I learned that you record the state, county, and specific place that you are located. It is most commonly accepted to underline this information. An example of this would be NJ Atlantic County Richard Stockton College.  Once I stated the location I recorded the time that I began my log and proceeded to describe the weather of the particular day. The log would then take a journal form in describing the things that I had observed. Descriptions of plants were very important. I would have to describe every important observation made. If a plant looked sick based off of the amount of galls on its branches, I would need to come up with an estimate of the amount of galls. Color, size, and location were the most common observations described.

                Keeping this detailed log throughout the semester was an awesome experience. Keeping the log helped me gain a new perspective on observing wildlife. I can truly say that I don’t look at the Pinelands the same anymore. I am always keeping my eye out for specific trees and trying to identify the different plants. Before taking this lab I didn’t have any sort of understanding for what plants were growing where and why they were found where they were. Not only did I have little understanding for this but I had very little interest. My interest was always with the animal species. But now I can make a lot of connections with the animals found in the Pinelands to the plants that inhabit the different habitats of the Pinelands.
Ecology Logs  

Artifact #2- Ecological Footprint of a Refrigerator

                In Professor Tait Chirenje’s course Environmental Issues, he had given an assignment like no other assignment I had done before. It was a very difficult assignment that required a lot of challenging research. The task involved using an everyday item and figuring out its ecological footprint on the environment. This required great detail as I had to find out all the environmental impacts from the different materials that make up a refrigerator. This involved the start of its footpring from the effects on water and air quality from extracting the material to the effects of disposing a refrigerator at the end of its life. The research was particularly unique in that it was like solving a crime as one clue would lead to another. With the footprint of the refrigerator there was always one problem that would lead to another.

                This assignment was the first time that I wrote a paper in the form of a report in APA style. There needed to be a table of contents, abstract, introduction, a body divided into sections, conclusion, and an appendix page. This was the first time I had to write an abstract and use an appendix page. I learned that an abstract should completely summarize the report, identifying the problem at hand and state the solution to the problems. When I did this report I treated the abstract more as an intro and missed the main points to an abstract. What I got most out of this footprint assignment was much better researching skills and I learned how to write up a professional report. My research for this paper was in extreme detail and I learned that the evidence that is found must come in the right sequence. I now have a great understanding of how to write up a report by using an abstract and incorporating an appendix page.
Ecological Footprint of a Refrigerator

Artifact #3- Overfishing Paper from Environmental Planning

In my Environmental Planning course my partner and I were assigned a project which involved writing a ten page report and presenting our research to the class for 15 minutes. We chose to do our report on the environmental impact from overfishing. We were to model our plans off of what we learned throughout the semester from the planning of environmental issues we discussed in class. We had to state the problem with overfishing, discuss two cases studies, and come up with the best solution for the problem. My partner and I encountered the challenge of dividing the work evenly. His duties were to research the laws involved with the oceans and fishing and to write up the introduction to the paper. That left me with the duties of researching the regulations on fisheries, the case studies, and the possible solutions for the problem.

This task we were given taught us how to work with one another. I learned a lot from my mistakes made in writing this report. We received a good grade on our report but it could have been much better if we wrote it in the right format. We wrote it as a standard paper when it was assigned as being a report which required a table of contents, abstract, and a body consisting of sections. The second part of this assignment taught me a lot as well. We were to give a 15 minute power point presentation on our report. It was the first time I had done a presentation longer than ten minutes. The challenging part actually turned out being to make it not last too long rather than have the presentation be too short. This ultimately hurt our grade as we went a few minutes over the limit, although we still received a decent grade. This assignment helped my presentation skills, helped my teamwork skills, and I now have a better understanding for how to properly write a report.
Overfishing Report

Resume

Objective:

My goal is to work in either wildlife management or as a conservation biologist. I plan to find an internship which will help prepare me for doing research at a graduate school where i can recieve my master's degree and work as a conservation biologist.

Education:

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

Pomona, NJ

Fall 2009 to present

Pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies

 

Washington College

Chestertown, MD

Fall 2007 to Spring 2009

Earned 64 credits in pursuit of an Environmental Studies degree

Skills:

ArcGis, ArcView, Excell, Powerpoint, Idendtifying species of NJ Pinelands, particularly frog species, hiking

Coursework:

Biology, Biology Lab, Chemistry, Chemistry Lab, Ecological Principles, Wildlife Management, Environmental Economics, Physical Geology, Physical Geography, Environmental Planning, Philosophy of Science, Geographic Information Systems, Environmental Issues

Field Experience:

Horseshoe crab survyes with the Nature Conservacey during summer of 2010.

Frog Surveys on Stockton's Campus in spring of 2010.