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My name is Katherine Quezada; I prefer to keep it short, though! So feel free to adress me by Kathy. I am 20 years old, and I attend MDC Padron campus, to pursue a career in Psychology. To be honest, I started my college student life around the same time the pandemic just began, so the experience has not been as fun or enjoyable as I imagined it to be. But it's still better to try than to waste time, I suppose.
I was born here in Miami, Florida while my parents are both from Nicaragua. Therefore, I am American but I am familiar with my family's culture, our hispanic heritage, and I'm still fluent in Spanish.

My favorite foods consist of ramen, miso soup, medium-cooked picanha, chocolate-dipped strawberries... so on and so forth, but that's to name a few top favorites lately.  As for hobbies, I don't really have as many as I used to compared to a year or two ago, I used to play piano and draw, but that's stopped as of recent. I suppose I just spend my free time with my dog now, or watch a show when I can.

What is most important to me is my family, I hope to become successful in my career path and hope I can be able to support them in the future just as much as they're supporting me and my studies right now. I want to be able to spoil my mom as much as she tries her best to spoil me and give my dad a break from his rough job-- construction. So in the future, I see myself earning my degree after years of hard work (in the middle of a pandemic..), getting a job as a therapist, and be able to financially support my family and myself. I also plan to move to Germany once I have my degree possibly, if all goes well.

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What research tool, idea, or methodology was known to you but was good to listen to again?

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What research tool, idea, or methodology was known to you but was good to listen to again?

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I have attended one of these sessions from Professor Duque before last semester and recall her informing us on most of these tools before. Although, it's nice to hear a refresher and get reminded of the several options I have if I'm looking for resources or help. Such as having the access to make a virtual appointment with a librarian who can help you find articles or books related to the topic you're looking for. Professor Duque also introduces us to a website called Kanopy that provides access to documentaries and films with education purposes. The MDC Library search engine is also a tool that can prove useful when it comes to looking for articles provided by your school. We're able to select options to sort the categories we're looking for. Additionally, the citation tool is the tool which I have not stopped using since I've discovered it thanks to Professor Duque last semester, because it saves me the time and trouble of typing and sorting out my own citation and essentially not have to think about it, so it's very useful.

The topic I chose to research and write about is littering in Florida--Miami. I have written on this topic for our City several times in the past already, so I did consider researching into a new topic-- however notice how no matter how many students voice out their concerns over those very same topics in their essays, the littering issue remains the same. I'm more content continuing to voice those concerns again nonetheless anyway, because I think the littering issue in my neighborhood or area, sometimes all of the city of Miami in general, is no joke. It's important to take care of our city, our roads, our waters and general environment-- we need to keep things clean so our Wild Life can have an easier and safer time and so can we.

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How Does the Everglades Affect Miamians?

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How Does the Everglades Affect Miamians?

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1. Why is it Important to Restore the Everglades? EPA . (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/everglades/why-it-important-restore-everglades

This article explains the reasons why it is crucial that we put in our efforts towards restoring the Everglades. I changed my topic to this becuase the Everglades takes up a good portion of our state and is right next to us, on the left side of Miami. It is where a grand part of our natural habitat, environment and wildlife resides. Therefore, this article lists reasons why this place is so important to us and our state, and the poor qualities of it we must pay attention to fixing first. It states that the Everglades is home to dozens of endangered species, has shaped the natural heritage and economy of Florida and is a unique mosaic of praries and etc.

2. Borkhataria, Rena R., et al. “The Synthesis of Everglades Restoration and Ecosystem Services (SERES): a Case Study for Interactive Knowledge Exchange to Guide Everglades Restoration.” Restoration Ecology, vol. 25, no. S1, Wiley Periodicals, Inc, 2017, pp. S18–S26, https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.12593.

This article is to read into how investments and plans have been created with the purpose of restoration efforts. However, recorded data and scientific information inform us that the progress has been lacking. Restoration of the Everglades is a multi-billion dollar state-federal partnership that entails restoring the flow of clean freshwater from Lake Okeechobee to the remnant Everglades, while ensuring flood protection and water supply for millions of people.

3. Protecting The Everglades. The National Wildlife Federation. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nwf.org/Our-Work/Waters/Great-Waters-Restoration/Everglades

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The Everglades restoration should take a great priority in the minds of many Floridians. This article points out a critical point such as how this forest took up to three million acres and more, covering all the way from Florida Keys to Orlando and yet today, only half of this place remains. Although this is a unique, important and special area for our wildlife and fish, poor quality of this ecosystem will affect us in turn as well. This ecosystem has provided us many benefits for years such as providing our drinking water, protecting us from our near-yearly hurricanes and floods, supports Florida’s $1.2 billion fishing industry and more. A critical piece of restoring the Everglades is to construct a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee. The reservoir will store and treat water before sending it south to the Everglades National Park and Florida Bay, where it is needed most.

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I particularly enjoyed the CAS assignments more, however assignment SP2 was very essential to me and a good activity to engage in first before diving into the rest of the work assigned after. I have attended that very meeting before, and now twice, but I did not mind at all. I feel like it was a nice reminder to know about the available research tools and resources us students have to make our research assignments easier. Such as how searching for sources through MDC Library is essential, because it will give us good, reliable sources for information and on top of that, will also automatically have the citation formatted for us to just copy and paste and hence make our lives easier.

But besides the MDC Library that is accessible through the mdc website, Professor Duque introduced us students to Kanopy, which is a streaming video platform for public libraries or schools and it offers films and documentaries for any subject you’re researching on. So this website is really helpful when you need an additional place to search for more resources or more information on a topic. It’s benefitted me a lot not only in assignments for this class alone but for different classes as well like English or Psychology, if I ever need to type out an assignment.

Moving on, assignment SP3 was a good experience for me, I chose to talk about the Everglades and the important goal of restoring it and protecting it. What I felt while completing this assignment was determination. For previous assignments alike to this one, I took on the role of discussing the problems of things such as pollution or littering, with the purpose of bringing awareness to it. This time around, I decided to research something along the same lane but different subject. I visit the Everglades at least once every year, and I truly appreciate its scenery, its wildlife, the home it provides to many different species, and the perfect tour spot on a hot summer day.

However, I only ever saw the nice parts of it every time that I would visit there. So when I decided to look into the state of the Everglades, my research informed me that there have been programs made with the purpose to restore the Everglades years ago, but efforts have been futile or very little, therefore the progress is slow. It shows that its situation needs to be taken much more seriously. The two biggest threats to the Everglades ecosystem are water quality and water quantity. With rapid development on both coasts and an expanding agriculture industry, the human demand for water is increasing rapidly while the supply is not changing. This ecosystem has provided us many benefits for years such as providing our drinking water, protecting us from our near-yearly hurricanes and floods, supports Florida’s $1.2 billion fishing industry and more.

Hence, this task was very informative for me, as I learned the hardships that one of our most important ecosystems go through, what makes it so important to us Miamians or the general state of Florida, and the campaigns or programs started to help this ecosystem out.

Last but not least, as for the CAS assignments; doing the research for these assignments was just as helpful and informative for me as a person on the general things. For assignment CAS1, I learned about the ingredients in cosmetic products I or any person would commonly buy with the manner they are advertised as safe, only to realize that that may not truly always be the case. This assignment was particularly helpful to me because one of the products mentioned in this research was a shampoo I always preferred: Pantene. And one of the films I watched during completing this assignment surprised me, as they mentioned this product and how it contains a chemical that can cause or lead to cancer in the long run. This actually shocked me, and I’ll be hesitant on ever wanting to purchase any more Pantene branded cosmetic items in the future. Not only do I stray away from Pantene shampoo and whatnot now, this research also encouraged me to research the products I purchase often to know if things are truly safe and healthy for me to use. Although, I will also be careful not to overspend or overbuy, as that can lead to unnecessary product waste on our planet, which we really need to reduce. And for CAS3, the TED talk videos I chose to watch and talk about were things I thought I was already familiar with and informed rather well in, things such as climate change and ocean pollution-- but it is assignments like these that lead me into a very informative research that helps me be more knowledgeable on things and reminds me how bad the situation of something really is, because through time, you tend to forget.

In conclusion, these assignments all came together to change me as a person and my habits or how I will look at things from a different perspective. They were good reminders to watch out for the things I buy or do on a daily basis in order to make our planet healthier and better.

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Video 1:

The Story of Cosmetics  https://www.storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-cosmetics/

In this story, the author shares her researched experience about cosmetics, mostly the ones they use from day to day. This film expresses the state of the environment, customers, and workers being affected due to the ingredients in the cosmetics most popular in being purchased and used. These kinds of cosmetics include things such as shampoos, body-soap, make-up, etc. The author, Annie Leonard, then voices about the usage of one of her preferred shampoos, "Pantene Pro V", which through her research, she looked through the ingredients used to create this product. To her surprise, one of the chemicals are toxic, because it can lead to cancer or is at least linked to it. After making this discovery, she made the effort to research the ingredients used in the rest of her cosmetics that she uses. A shock and unfortunate, she found that most chemicals used in the rest of her products all lead to different health risks other than just cancer. These products can terrifyingly lead to disabilities, cancer, asthma, and more. Annie then explains how most of the products that most consumers likely use contain 12 ingredients/chemicals or more, yet not all of the chemicals are assessed for safety. It's also then discussed how most companies' tactic is to label their not-so-safe products as "natural" or "organic" to make it sound safe, pleasant and hook a customer to purchasing it, but it's a trap. Any company can call their product natural or whatever may catch someone's best interest if it means making profit. We are then informed that in order to avoid falling into any of these sorts of traps any longer, we are encouraged to research resources online to figure out which products truly are what they say they are, safe, and good to use.

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Going into this video, I was not sure what I was expecting since the title "The Story of Stuff" sounds very generic. Then, this short film goes into the cycle of production, and the manner in which we consume things that we actively use. It displayed the negative consumption patterns. The goal of this video is to bring awareness to these soceital and environmental issues to construct a further sustainable nature. Humans utilize and waste an excessive amount of resources anually, more than the Earth or corporates can refill. Because we are wasting so much, it is complicating to handle. All the forms of the cycle of production and the interaction it has with society and the environment-- the way our land is facing ruination in order to continue distributing the same products being disposed of harmfully-- all these points are covered. Shockingly, companies and even the government themselves are partnered in working together towards this behavior/cycle. This is tragic, because those resources are very important to us and on top of that, limited. This film is therefore and eye-opener to the information that society should know in order to aid the planet and repair it, plus prevent any further destructive mistakes.

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A. Consumption affects humans roles as global citizens because the amount of currency they make and spend causes a domino effect on everything around them. The more consumption that is made with spending, the more the economy is boosted. Consumption also serves as a motivating factor for some humans in order to get them to work hard or perform a job that needs to be done. The local economy is boosted, supporting small businesses and large corporations, which makes communities flourish with money. This money can be helped to uplift communities by giving back in forms of charity or community help. So consumption relates to my role as a citizen for the obvious, that I too utilize and need materials or services. I usually order take-out, or purchase various cosmetic products for myself. My acts of consumption are likely something I should put under control, by learning to cook for myself plus researching the products I'm buying to use to take care of myself. I do care about our planet and its state and therefore want to attempt reducing the waste I produce as a person.

B. After watching both of the videos I listed above, I am always enlighted and informed further on things I think I'm already well-informed on, only to be surprised negatively by the damaging effects. For "The Story of Cosmetics", I was stunned to learn that Pantene, a brand I have favored for a while now, turns out to not be as safe as I had assumed it to be or the way it's advertised. This made me curious about the rest of the products I purchase and use on myself, and begin to research them and make sure I am not causing myself any further harm in the long run. I now have a goal to always research a product in the store before I buy it, the ingredients in it and make sure I make the safest choice. However with that in mind, "Story of Stuff" has taught me about the waste our planet and environment is facing due to over-consumption from society. So along with wanting to make the best choices for my purchases either with products or services, I want to also keep in mind to keep it to a minimal amount or not buy more than is necessary. This way, I hope I am contributing to a less polluted and trashed planet.

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Article 1: Burning sugar cane pollutes communities of color in Florida. Brazil shows there is another way

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Article 1: Burning sugar cane pollutes communities of color in Florida. Brazil shows there is another way

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According to recent researches, there have been impacts from burning sugar cane, here in Florida. Sugar cane harvesting's purpose is to produce America's fine cane sugar.. but it is harmful due to emitting smole and ash to communities of color. We learned from reports from how in other countries they have invented mew methods of harvesting their crops without burning them. Then, they head to Brazil-- the highest producing economony of sugarcane globally currrently, to note down their methods and adapt to new and better, conventional ways.

In the meantime, research from the state about the health effects of sugar cane burning have apparently been put to a halt. Researchers from the Florida Department of Health advised to issue a health-risk assessment after finding it to be related to toxic air pollutants.

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Article 2: Planting crops... and carbon, too

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Article 2: Planting crops... and carbon, too

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Agriculture has been the most efficient and traditional method of feeding an increasing civilization for years. However, it has not been so nice on the environment. Carbon-containing compounds have mixed with atmospheric oxygen for years. This led to carbon dioxide-- global warming's leading cause....

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Climate change is caused in several different ways that many people may not be aware or even think of. Climate change has affected the daily lives of people. For years on end now, different individuals have been researching into preventing climate change or global warming from worsening. These articles open my eyes into what is happening behind the scenes and what more could be making our situation with climate change even worse without us knowing it, because we wouldn't assume it to be a problem in the first place. This kind of information educates me and can potentially educate several others as well.

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Popkin, Gabriel. “Planting Crops - and Carbon, Too.” The Washington Post. WP Company, January 22, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2021/climate-solutions/climate-regenerative-agriculture/?itid=sf_climate-solutions&utm_source=Solutions%2BStory%2BTracker.

Burning sugar cane pollutes communities of color in Florida. Brazil shows there is another way. https://www.propublica.org/article/burning-sugar-cane-pollutes-communities-of-color-in-florida-brazil-shows-theres-another-way

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This TED Talk video comes forth about climate change being a threat to human rights. Mary Robinson, the speaker and former Ireland president adresses her history about her past position. Additionally, attempts to get a home or buy land where she wanted would become nonessential since homes in her homeland or her citizens lived beolow sea level. Moreover, rather than viewing the topic of climate change through the eyes of an expert lab technician or an activist, Mary brought forth the ways that climate change is affecting people directly. She showed the audience several images of the effects climate change has had on our world and the animals, such as melting glaciers and more. This made her and us ponder how this could affect our human rights instead.

Citation: https://www.ted.com/talks/mary_robinson_why_climate_change_is_a_threat_to_human_rights?referrer=playlist-why_climate_change_is_a_human&autoplay=true

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Mary Robinson: Why climate change is a threat to human rights

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Climate change is unfair. While rich countries can fight against rising oceans and dying farm fields, poor people around the world are already having their lives upended -- and their human rights threatened -- by killer storms, starvation and the loss of their own lands.

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This TED Talk video goes over the destructive effects of plastic in the ocean and a strong desire to save the ocean. David Kats starts off by discussing how many animals in the sea are becoming endangered due to all the trash, especially anything that's plastic, accumulating . David then introduces The Plastic Bank, a program with a goal to open a global chain where customers can several things such as cooking fuel and more with the currency of plastic. This way, that plastic waste is then sold to different companies to recycle and use in their products. David ends his talk with a powerful message, that if we all cooperate on this mission together to save the ocean, this could be beneficial to the human race, us, in the long run by leading to a healthier, longer and better life in the end. Hence, plastic littering does not only affect just our environment and wildlife alone only, but us as well.

Citation: https://www.ted.com/talks/david_katz_the_surprising_solution_to_ocean_plastic

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The surprising solution to ocean plastic

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Can we solve the problem of ocean plastic pollution and end extreme poverty at the same time? That’s the ambitious goal of The Plastic Bank: a worldwide chain of stores where everything from school tuition to cooking fuel and more is available for purchase in exchange for plastic garbage -- which is then sorted, shredded and sold to brands who reuse “social plastic” in their products. Join David Katz to learn more about this step towards closing the loop in the circular economy. “Preventing ocean plastic could be humanity’s richest opportunity,” Katz says.

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These TED talk videos inform me about the environmental concerns that are currently out there in the world right now. It shows me how these things are affecting us and how seriously we should all be taking it. Before watching these videos, I had already heard of the concepts that both of these TED Talks talk about, such as climate change and water/ocean pollution and its effects. However, I'm never fully aware of how bad it truly is to its extent, so I believe it's really good and helpful to be reinformed on these things from time to time to remind myself and others to do the actions it takes to prevent our Earth's state or sitation from getting any worse. Like in David Kats' talk, for one, their propisition of starting a program to trade or buy items through plastic litter or waste and in turn, that plastic being sold to different corporations in favor of recycling, thus reducing the amount of plastic in the world and clearing our oceans or general environment of it. It's an active action to take, and I am highly supportive of it. As for climate change, Mary Robinson's video was an eye-opener for as well for me, and it is astonishing how there are people in the world who don't believe climate change is real at all, thus refuse to take any proactive measures to prevent the situation from getting worse. Her TED talk video exposed me to the tragic effects climate change has had so far on our environment and our wildlife, which is really saddening. I'm hoping with all the ideas and solutions proposed forward, people are encouraged to come together as a community and put forward efforts to make our Earth healthier and better.