Petting baby lemon sharks and glimpsing spotted eagle rays among the coral and balmy waters of the Bahamas were more than just lazy summer daydreams for River Forest resident Maria Murray.

The Oak Park-River Forest High School senior, 17, spent a week in Bimini, Bahamas, with the Shedd Aquarium's High School Marine Biology program to research the effects of human development on the ecosystems of the islands.
From July 1-7, Murray traveled with nine other students from the Midwest to Bimini, where the group lived aboard the RV Coral Reef II, a research vessel owned by the Shedd Aquarium.
Shedd's Coordinator of Community and Mentor Programs Colby Mitchell said the program challenged Murray's group, as well as a second group of 10 who traveled to Bimini the following week, with researching how a hypothetical resort development on the island would affect various ecosystems in the area.

Prior to her trip, Murray attended classes for a week at the Shedd Aquarium to learn about the Bimini ecosystems and prepare for field research.
While in the Bahamas, students read various articles and discussed and debated issues related to their research. While the teachers mentored, the students conducted most of the hands-on research themselves, Murray said.
"More often than not, if a student asked a question, we would respond with a question," Mitchell said.

The students participated in rapid ecological assessment of the land and water, vegetation surveys, and beach seines, which Murray described as pulling a large net along the shoreline to compare the fish samples of different areas of beach.
The students met to discuss their data and conclusions Thursday and Friday at the Shedd Aquarium. Murray thought that other students would find negative effects of development along the shoreline.
"There were still fish there, but not the same variety," she said.

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