The Coast and Cotton Samples

Well this has been a hectic week. I have been running between Pierre's lab which houses the fluorometer I use to get excitation emission data and ours to analyze the data on the computer. Anyway I knew things would be rushed after I spent two weeks on the cruise so oh well...

I finally finished graphing the data from the UV samples I took before the cruise. The results are quite nice and each salinity we tested showed similar degradation with time. There were some subtle differences we hope to explore in another UV test with the fluorescent whitening agents Joe ordered. I started analyze those and found that their concentrations declined slightly as I made my standard curve which will make for an interesting UV curve.

We also started looking at the data from the cruise. I have been trying to figure out the best method for extracting fluorescent whitening agents from the cotton samples we took. I have been soaking them in methanol, water and acetone for various amounts of time and am in the process of running these samples on the fluorometer. I am hoping we can just use water to extract them beause that will just be simpler.

This past weekend Vanessa took us to the coast. Below are some pictures:

Haystack Rock

Vanessa and Eli

Katie in the maze

Katie and Anna Mai

Cannon Beach

Elia and Katie

Something about Eli's hand reminds of Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, (Vanessa watch out! and oh man I'm a nerd)