Every summer, high school students from across the country attend the month-long Discovery Hall Summer Program at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. For the first time in the program's history Louisiana State University (LSU) sponsored a student with a scholarship in Coastal Engineering, and this year's recipient was Jennifer Blakely.

Jennifer is from Mobile and has grown up with a passion for science, especially for animals and marine life. She found out about this summer opportunity from the Internet and applied for the Discovery Hall Program and scholarship. Due to her academic excellence, extra-curricular activities, and strong interest in science, Jennifer was chosen over six other applicants to receive the scholarship.

Jennifer Blakely

The LSU Scholarship in Coastal Engineering required Jennifer to: complete an independent research project, interact with an undergraduate student majoring in civil and coastal engineering at LSU, and participate in the LSU Summer Undergraduate Research Forum (SURF). During her time here Jennifer met with LSU student Anna Wojtanowicz on two occasions and Anna helped her collect data, work on her research paper, and gave her advice on college and deciding majors. Jennifer described her research project's hypothesis and stated: "I set out to prove that vegetation on high energy marsh would need to be more dense and strong than low energy marsh in order to survive." She tested her hypothesis by doing field research and measuring the effects of salinity, PH, dissolved oxygen, wind, and temperature of the water and air. Jennifer will attend SURF with Anna at LSU in August and do a poster presentation.

Being home-schooled, Jennifer has gotten the chance to move at her own pace and will be graduating high school at age sixteen. She was eager to attend the high school program and admitted her favorite part was: "Dorm life! It's been different, but gave me insight on what to expect in college." She also enjoyed snorkeling in Panama City.

As for advice to future DHP students Jennifer adds: "I would encourage you to attend; it's a tough program, but you make lifelong friends and gain a positive experience." For Jennifer's future, she plans to attend the University of South Alabama and major in either Marine Biology or Veterinary Medicine and attend Louisiana State University for graduate school. Jennifer felt very proud to receive the LSU scholarship and loved the opportunity she got to learn, explore, and make new friends during her summer spent at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab.