By: Jennell Retamar
The Florida Southern Biology department has once again expanded its program to accommodate marine biology majors with their own honors society, Tri Rho.
The Tri Rho Gamma chapter will be the third chapter installed along with the chapters at Nova Southeastern and the University of Miami. Faculty advisor Dr. Kristian Taylor said the FSC chapter should be fully established by the end of the semester.
Taylor was a member of the alpha chapter at the University of Miami and wanted to help establish a chapter at FSC.
“It provided me with great experiences and opportunities to get together with other students that had similar interests,” Taylor said. “I would like to see a similar marine biology community take hold here.”
Tri Rho will focus exclusively on marine biology. All activities planned will occur on or in the marine environment. This will allow interested students to take advantage of Florida Southern’s proximity to both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.
“I want to be able to spread not only the joy of the ocean but also to educate the public about the ocean,” Tri Rho President Shelby Cain said. “Tri Rho allows me and the other members to educate the public about every issue the ocean is facing.”
The activities that will come forth aim to provide members with unique opportunities to access the marine environment as well as collaborate with other chapters and universities undergoing research. These are great experiences for undergraduate students and can help them prepare for graduate school or a career in research.
“From this experience, I’m hoping to help raise awareness of the marine program here at FSC, as well as to get non-majors more deeply involved in protection of the marine environment,” Vice President Sam Stein said.
If you want to become a full member of Tri Rho or an associate member you can attend the second interest meeting March 22nd at 10:50 a.m. in Polk Science 155.
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