1. Personal Reflections
Alizabeth Ennis
March 14, 2014
The most interesting part of this project has been learning and researching a
topic I normally would not put any effort into learning about. Because of the topic
my group has chosen it has been difficult to find in depth, detailed information and
to be able to expand on the topic. I think if I were to start this project over I would
choose a different topic. However my topic is very specific but can also be very
broad because of all the different types of media that can help to inform people of
endangered species like the Hawaiian monk seal and many others.
Focusing on media impacts has taught me all the different ways people are
spreading the word of conservation. Video, news stations, newspapers, magazine,
campaigns, or different events in the community are all different examples of how a
conservation organization would inform the public.
Animal conservation:
Animal conservation has a bigger impact on our environment than I was aware.
The extinction of one species can affect several other species and environments.
Before reading the book I had never even heard of Hawaiian monk seals. So I was
completely unaware of their importance of their species. This shows how little I
knew about animal conservation before I started reading the book The Odyssey of
KP2 by Terrie Williams. I still do not know too much on this topic, but I have gained
more knowledge on the issue.
Learning about the Hawaiian monk seal was also something I had never
thought I would ever be researching. The story of KP2 is not as eventful as I would
have liked, but book was full of information on conservation and the amazing
journey of working towards conserving a species. All the hard work they put in to
researching KP2 shows how important the issue was to them. Thinking of this made
me evaluate my own life and makes me want to make a difference with the goals I
have for my future.
Media impact:
When my group had decided on researching the topic of Media impacts on
conservation efforts I was a little worried. Before the idea was brought up, the
impact that media has on conservation efforts had never crossed my mind. Because
of this when I started the project I had no previous information of media’s impact on
conservation efforts.
After completing this website I definitely would not consider myself an
expert on the topic, but I do think that I have gained a lot of knowledge on media’s
impact. Throughout my research I noticed a theme in the online sources I found.
Most of my sources were examples of local or national organizations that currently

2. are working towards spreading their conservation efforts. I was very surprised by
how many organizations I could find that are raising awareness of conservation.
The most interesting group I had found was the Idaho Conservation league.
They are Idaho’s main organization when it comes to preserving Idaho’s wildlife and
environment. They also have a location in Boise, ID. The information on their
website is current and explains all their accomplishments of their conservation
efforts. You can even learn about ways you can get involved locally in Idaho or Boise.
Working as a group:
Out of the last three years I have been in college this is the first group project
I have had to complete. Throughout the experience I have learned a lot about
myself and how to work better with a team of very different individuals.
Working together as a group I have learned about the work ethic of my group
members, and they are all very hard workers. It was also great to hear
everyone’s idea and apply them all to the project. This caused me to want to have
the desire to do a good job and pull my weight of the project to make sure all the
work done was of good quality.
Completing this project also taught me about the importance of meeting
deadlines to get our website done. If there are no due dates for the completion of
each requirement for the website, then we most likely would have been
scrambling towards the end to get the project done in time. This project also
taught me how to put together due dates for each requirement of the project so
that all the work was spaced out equally.
For me personally researching for this website was difficult. But after
completing each task, I became a better researcher. I learned different ways to
find different types of information online, in my community, and the resources
around me at Boise State University.
In the end I had a very hardworking group that managed to work very well
together as a team to get the project done in time and to the best of our abilities.