October 2024

Each month, the Office of Sustainability will feature members of the University of Florida community who are making a sustainable impact on a daily basis. Keep reading to meet our featured student for October!

Meet Brynn Fricke

This month’s Green Gator is Brynn Fricke! Brynn is a senior Environmental Science major with minors in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation and International Studies in Agricultural and Life Sciences. 

Brynn graduates from UF in May 2025. Brynn lived in Frisco, Texas from 2015-2023, but her family now lives in Sarasota, Florida.

Brynn is particularly interested in the conservation aspect of sustainability because she has a passion for wildlife and the ocean. She shares that, “Sustainability is easiest to achieve when you have a connection with something, whether it be an organism or a group of people.” 

That connection to people is also significant to Brynn – she finds excitement in “learning from many different people and experiencing different cultures” when trying to solve environmental problems. 

Mentors Make The Journey That Much Sweeter

It’s no surprise that having some help on your sustainability journey can make a big difference! Brynn is grateful to the mentors that have helped her during her time at UF. 

Get to know Brynn’s mentors: 

• Orlando Acevedo-Charry, who inspired Brynn to pursue avian ecology and conservation! He also introduces Brynn to many opportunities, including the University Scholars Program. He also taught her how to program in R, which is a vital skill in the ecology field. Fun fact: Brynn joined Orlando’s research project by sending him a happy birthday email with pictures of birds from a study abroad trip!
• Dr. Miguel Acevedo, who let Brynn join his weekly lab meetings to develop skills as a scientist, such as working on programming languages, presentations, reading scientific literature, and more. 
• Wenyi Zhou , who gave Brynn all the bird identification skills she has so that she can be an ornithologist! 

Collecting Sustainable Experiences At UF

With an amazing support team behind her, Brynn has been heavily involved in sustainability-related experiences both on and off campus. 

On campus, Brynn volunteered at McCarty Woods invasive species cleanups in her freshman year. As an out of state student, she found it to be a rewarding way to understand the deep impact of invasives on Florida flora! 

Another rewarding experience is her participation in the University Scholars Program with Florida Museum of Natural History. Through this program, she does research on bird species in the Caribbean and the differences between their functional traits between island and mainland populations. This is important for sustainability because island populations are under increased threats from introduced disease, predation, invasive species, and more. 

Brynn’s notable on-campus involvement has included: 

• President of GREBE Audubon Campus Chapter
• Internship with Alachua Audubon Society
• SNRE Liaison (sharing her experiences with prospective students)
• Work and study with the Reisinger Lab – supporting Coleson Wrege studying the effect of prescribed burns on wetland invertebrates
• Course on Environmental Ethics, REL2104

If you cross paths with Brynn, be sure to ask her for recommendations on professors, courses, and more! She also encourages students to take advantage of their major’s Listserv and attend seminars and symposiums to find possible research projects within UF. Brynn explains that most people at UF are very welcoming and happy to discuss their work with you – so ask questions! 

Exploring Sustainability Around The World 

Brynn’s interests have taken her around the world to observe and work side-by-side other cultures to learn more about sustainability in different environments. 

On a study abroad program in Madagascar, Brynn visited a fishing village in Andavadoaka. There, she experienced the impact of the marine protected area (MPA) that the community established after previously overfishing the area. 

While snorkeling in one of the MPAs, Brynn saw a large biodiversity of fish, which was inspiring to see. This experience taught Brynn that “working with local communities is essential to making change and facilitating sustainable practices.”

Brynn also spent time working in Marine Conservation at the Whale Shark and Oceanic Research Center in Utila, Honduras. 

In Honduras, Brynn was shocked to see the thick layer of trash all the way down the beach. Brynn shares, “I saw a lot of the plastic products I use in my everyday life, and it made me think about what alternatives I can use or what I can eliminate from my consumption. Also, seeing the diseased and injured corals among the healthy reefs made me think about the chemicals I use, especially sunscreen, and about carbon dioxide emissions that lead to ocean acidification.”

(Pro Tip: She found this opportunity on the Wildlife Science Career Network Facebook page!)

As a result of her experiences near and far, Brynn understands “not to approach sustainability from a purely scientific perspective but to incorporate cultural beliefs as well to create the most change!”

One Day At A Time

Bynn practices sustainability in her daily life with a few simple practices that you may wish to try too!

Brynn’s list of daily sustainability practices: 

• Reduce meat consumption by going vegetarian last spring.
• Reduce plastic waste by choosing reusable water bottles, grocery totes, and Tupperware.
• Switch to paper products, such as bar shampoo and plastic-less deodorant.
• Carpool with friends and promote carpooling in GREBE (student organization) to reduce carbon emissions.
• Garden biweekly in GREBE’s native plant garden to promote bird and insect diversity.

What step will you take to become a Green Gator?

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