Hey! I can’t believe I only have one more week to go.
My week began Monday morning, which consisted of some pretty standard weighing and randomizing. I also typed some old Quibit datato an organized spreadsheet.
On Tuesday, Steve and Adam gave me, Melia, and Emily a emergency plan for if the incubator frosts up and begins to act improperly. They wanted to be sure we felt confident before they leave for Svalbard this week.
Wednesday was very eventful! I was introduced to a room in which there are many microscopes. These scopes are hooked up to cameras, so you can record any interesting growths using a magnification impossible with regular digital cameras. This was super fun; since we individually looked at the plates, I was able to spend more time than ever observing the sediment! We noticed nostoc, potential diatoms, and many other growths, which we then photographed and stored for future reference. I’ll put some pictures below!
On Thursday, I spent the morning taking some more pictures while the others worked on counts. Because it was my first time handling the samples independently, I became hyperaware of the sterilization and caution needed while dealing with experimental units. Later, I recorded data while Emily watered the samples.
On Friday, both Emily and Melia were out, so I was responsible for randomizing the samples and uploading temperature and light data from the week. This was new responsibility, but went smoothly!
In my free time, I visited with my mom and sister, who came up to see me for a couple nights. I hiked and ran as usual, enjoying the cooler temperatures. Today (Sunday) I spent my time with my friend Kiara; we visited the Dashunabe teahouse, the bookstore, and saw Oppenheimer in theater! I look forward to one last week in the lab.
As always, thanks to Pinhead, my mentor Steve Schmidt, my host family, and everyone else who made this possible.
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