Keaffaber and undergraduates travel to Hong Kong for UF study abroad program

During the first half of May, ten undergraduate students, Amanda Arsenault - Chemistry, Tyler Caton - Chemical Engineering, Amanda Cotton - Chemistry, Cathleen Leach - Chemical Engineering, Eric Ho - Civil Engineering, Kyle Hollister - Chemical Engineering, Khyzer Izhar - Biochemistry, Ramiro Palma - Chemical Engineering, Felicia Svedlund - Materials Science and Engineering, and Andrew Updegrave - Chemical Engineering, joined Dr. Jeffrey Keaffaber in a UF study abroad program. The course entitled "Chemical and Environmental Aspects of the Theme Parks in Hong Kong" included three days in Atlanta, GA to participate in the Aquatic Animal Life Support Conference at the Georgia Aquarium. The conference, as well as the study in Hong Kong, featured an in depth analysis of marine animal life support systems and all chemical processes involved in their design and operation.

From Atlanta the group crossed the Pacific Ocean to Hong Kong. The Hong Kong trip included making field and laboratory measurements of several water chemistry parameters at Ocean Park, a marine oriented theme park. At Hong Kong Disneyland, the students learned about environmental projects related to fireworks chemistry, water utilization and conservation, and integrated pest management, which is a program to limit pesticide use. This was the inaugural course, and it is planned to be offered annually.