We Made It!

Finally the semester is coming to an end. Though in the midst of cramming for exams and stressing out over projects, looking back it's not as bad as it seemed, it is such a relief to have my paper polished and turned in. This was the first science paper I've had to write so i struggled with the formatting. Once I got the structure of the paper down I was able to crank it out. I'm glad I made it through because now I know what to expect when I take biology next semester. Though my project wasn't as successful as i had hoped, I'm prepared to make the necessary adjustments to my procedure. I'm very grateful to have been accepted into the S-STEM program this semester and am excited to continue this experience.

Ok... what to do?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last Friday Matt, Michael and I went to the Rio Salado River to retrieve one of my traps, and what do you know… they were gone!

(all the space in front of the trees was gravel)

Yep, the river filled up from all the rain we’ve been having and my traps floated away. So I may not be able to use the same site over Christmas break. Ideally I would rather place them in a natural habitat but I may need to revert to one of the manmade ponds… We went to another pond up stream

The decision is still in the works, I haven’t had a chance to even go through any traps yet so Christmas break might be another trial.

In the meantime, I hope everyone has an awesome and SAFE Thanksgiving!

 

Closing time, time to… wait three more weeks.

What a fast week!! I’m grateful it’s almost over, though my weekend wont contain much relaxation. I’m catching a flight Monday evening after class to head home (Idaho) for the week of Thanksgiving, so I have quite a bit to take care of before I go. So my weekend will be filled with papers and lots of coffee. On a lighter note on Friday Matt, Michael and I went to the Rio Salado pond to set up my traps for the practice run. Guess what we found!
Yes ladies and gentlemen a crawdad… well a crawdad carcass but hey one can only hope!

Here’s our little friend! What to name him?

 

Mesh bags full of willow leaves and weighed them.

Marshy area where the traps were placed. (you cant tell but it gets much deeper) 

 

View from the top of the hill

 

Let's get this started!

I had a lot of fun on Friday with everyone on the field trip at the Museum of Natural History and I’m already excited for our next trip! We had a guided tour and our guide had an awesome accent which made everything all the more interesting. Here are some of he picture I took during our visit.

Tomorrow (Friday) Matt, Michael and I are planning on heading to Rio Salado to check out for a drop site for some traps. The plan is to leave them there for a few weeks and get them the week before finals. My objective is to get an idea of what the real project will be like, and to familiarize myself with the stuff I may find. We’re hoping a crawdad will make its way into one of the traps. (although it’s highly unlikely)  Over the weekend I was able to study some of the material Matt gave me about fresh water aquatic life so I’ll feel more comfortable when I’m ready to dig into my traps.    

THERE WILL BE BUGS!!

So last week I identified my organism (Enterococcus Faecalis) and this week I have started gathering research to support my data for my rough draft that’s due next week. I have also been looking into my next project. Last week Matt suggested doing a leaf pack trap and sent me some information to look at over the weekend. Leaf pack traps consist usually of several mesh bags that are each filled with different content like several types of leaves rocks and other plant clippings. The bags are then submerged in a pond, lake or river to see what organisms can inhabit them based off of the contents. The inhabitants depend on the time of year and they have to be left for a minimum of two weeks to see any success.

(Matt gave me a few books and charts so i can familiarize. if you click on the photo you can see it better!)

 I then will retrieve them and identify the different organisms, however, since there is such a large variety of organisms to identify the first round might be a tedious process. With that in mind Matt and I decided I will do a trial run so I can familiarize myself with the process. Doing this will also allow me to make adjustments to my protocol so it will go smoother the second time. The plan is to hopefully pick a drop site this week so I can retrieve my traps when we get back from thanksgiving break.  

In the meantime this weekend I’m planning on coming up with a protocol to propose to Matt on Monday so we can get this show on the road. 

Alrighty then!

Week three down! This week was filled with minimal human interaction, study guides and endless cups of coffee, all I have to say is… I made it out ALIVE! As for my gram stain… well let’s just say the first attempt didn't go so well.

 I was unable to determine if it was positive or negative but after the second try I determined that it was gram positive. Monday I determined the cell morphology and performed a catalase test where I concluded that my unknown (#9) as Entercoccus Faecalis. This inhabits the gastrointestinal tracts of humans and other mammals. According to the American Society for Microbiology, E. Faecalis is commonly the culprit for urinary tract infections as well as endocarditis, bacteremia and wound infections. ASM also indicates that E. Faecalis can be tricky to treat because of its frequent resistance to several antibiotics. 

Here we go…

So I’m not sure why I was so nervous about my interview last Friday because it turned to be much more laid back than I had expected. Wednesday was my first day, Josh helped me set up a username to clock in each time and I watched some videos regarding safety and proper lab behavior. Today I learned how to do an isolation streak. My first try was a total bust but after Josh’s demonstration I was able to do it successfully. An isolation streak is used to isolate a pure strain from a single species of microorganism, often times bacteria. In order to perform the procedure I had to use a sterile inoculation loop that is then dipped in the inoculum and spread across a petri dish. After that the specimen was placed in the incubator at 37 degrees Celsius to sit overnight. Friday (tomorrow) I’m going to come in early to do a gram stain and identify my specimen.

Oh the anticipation!

Wow, what a busy week! Similar to my fellow S-STEM buddies I've been studying for exams and preparing a plan of how I am going to organize my time when I start my internship. Oh the anticipation! I’m excited/nervous, my interview is on Friday! Hopefully shortly afterward I will find out what my future holds for my involvement in the S-STEM world! I’m very excited to find out what I will be researching, ready to further my knowledge of the science world and eager to see what my fellow S-STEM buddies will be investigating. I wish the best of luck to everyone in their experiments, here’s a few words of encouragement to keep you guys going.

 “Achievement seems to be connected with action. Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes but they don’t quit.” –Conrad Hilton. 

McCall, Idaho. My favorite place,

 I'm excited to go home for winter break and see some snow!!