Blogs

  This week was basically a frantic struggle to get back on schedule.  I was told that this week was going to be like this (the longest week of my life).  Monday and Friday were not so bad, though.  I started out the week and leisurely started reviewing the massive stack of scientific journals on my desk.  I later learned that I should not have been as leisurely as I needed to finish that massive stack by the next day. I did get to add to my list of definitions of scientific definitions that have a relevance to the project, so that was a positive, right?

So now into week three I am definitely getting a tighter grasp on the project and the techniques we're using to gather data.  Tuesday I met with my senior scientist, mentor, and a few others from the lab to discuss some more long term goals for the project.  This proved to be very effective in boosting my understanding of the project vs just the literature review on the project.  Communication is key!

The following pictures represent a temperature screening for Mn oxidation for all seven of the IMO mutants along with a WT on each plate for comparison. WT did not oxidize whatsoever in 13C, whereas E2, C1, E1, and to some degree D1 and E3 all did oxidize.

The 27C plate displayed essentially full oxidation over the time period for all strains, thus not proving to be helpful over this timeframe.

This week was full of CMOP events as well. On Tuesday I had the opportunity to witness the LOBO being deployed to a new location. It was pretty cool to see the instrument that is giving all this data that I am working with. On Wednesday in the Furse class, we watched a series of interviews of tribal leaders. Friday we took a trip to Multnomah Falls and toured the Bonneville Dam. With all of these activities going on, I felt as if I hadn't had much time to work on my project. However, I started working on the GUI...or at least how to create them in MATLAB.

It's my second week at CMOP this year, but only my third day. I was out of town for part of last week, so I only got a few things done. I had to write two reports, one about what CMOP is, and another about gliders. I'm currently working on a third report; this one is about wind-driven circulation. I'm finding that the topic is somewhat familiar, but I do not remember all of the details, so it's nice to refresh my memory on the subject.

This week, I did sojme experiments on how temperature affects the concentration of ammonium detected in a sample. It's been a little difficult to get my samples down to 4 degrees celsius; we've tried both an ice bath and a controlled water bath. Also, Zanna Chase came over from OSU to discuss what we'll be doing when I go to spend a week over there in July. It was really great being able to talk with her about the project and to get an idea of what I'll be doing while I'm at OSU. I also washed out lots of bottles to prepare for my sampling trip out with Jami.

I have been reading, reading, and reading. i have been reading so much that my eyes are irritated but I'm learning so much (details) about native American history since "contact". and also that the tribes are diverse and complex yet they all have a common goal for environmental issues. the Wednesday class was inspiring, people coming together for a good cause and continuing to make changes. Friday was fun and tiring. it was a nice sunny day and the tour guide was full of information.

On our first day here, an article was handed out on the importance of "stupidity" in science, realizing that the purpose of conducting research is to answer as-yet unanswered questions, and in order to do that we need to be comfortable with our "stupidity."  After the fourth or fifth time I failed to isolate and purify several DNA fragments (a process that takes, on average, several hours) it was all I could do to hope that I was the right kind of stupid.  However, thanks to the wonderful people at QIAGEN, I was finally able to isolate my DNA using a PCR purifi

Well there are setbacks too. Turns out some of our media got tainted a bit and there are now things living in there that shouldn't be. By the beginning of next week hopefully the filtering will be finished and we can get back to trying to isolate them.

Anyway we had an exhausting but fun trip on Friday. We went to Multnomah Falls where we did some hiking (amazing views), then to a fish hatchery, and finally to a tour of the Bonneville Dam. Have a look:

A view from Vista House:

Another busy week has passed us by in Astoria. We’ve been updating, cleaning, and fixing stations out on the river every day. On Monday we headed out to Desdemona Sands Light to replace the solar controller and battery. Then on Tuesday we headed out on an early dive at Jetty A where we replaced the old seabed CT with a new one. (I think the old one looked pretty cool with all its barnacles.) Wednesday saw us back at Desdemona trying to figure out why the radio wasn’t reporting. We also had to go back to Jetty A to finish setting up the CT. We were supposed to dive out at Pt.