debor042

My research is on the diatom communities of the Everglades. To study how the communities respond to environmental changes, I have to identify and count each of the diatom species I encounter under the microscope. To do that though, the diatoms have to be stripped clean of any organic material and other 'junk' in the sample. The diatoms go through a harsh bath of acid and heat, until all that is left of them are their empty but beautiful cell walls. This is possible because diatom cell walls are essentially glass. Beakers of diatom samples mixed with hydrogen peroxide and nitric acid boiling away on a hot plate. Different amounts of organic matter (like peat or plants) and inorganic matter (like sand or clay) result in different colors and reactions. In the Everglades, the limestone bedrock adds a lot of calcium carbonate into the soil and periphyton. Some components of periphyton (especially mucilage-producing filamentous algae) attract calcite crystals like a magnet. The addit...

Do you see the tiny green film at the bottom of the beaker in the picture above?  This extremely small clump of green stuff is a diatom sample weighing less than 20 milligrams that I need to carefully process and guard with my life for carbon isotope analysis. If I lose any of this sample or ruin a procedure, I will likely have to spend several weeks waiting for a new culture to grow and start over again. Thoughts that have been running through my mind recently include: What if I lose any of my sample while transferring it between beakers? What if it spills? What if a piece of hair lands in it? (note: things like hair and dust can ruin stable isotope samples) Despite how many methods papers I read, I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. What if I dry the sample too long, or add too much acid or completely miss a secret step that isn't described in any journal articles? WHY IS THIS FILTER FALLING APART? WHY? NOOOOO!!!!!  Failure and data loss can happen at all stage...

Whether we are working in the field or in the lab, the things we have to wear to do our work make us stand out from the undergrad crowd at our universities. Below, I have listed the latest styles for Fall 2012 Everglades research:   Field Tannin-dyed Pants   Above is a picture of pants that I wear in the field. These pants are naturally tie-dyed with streaks of grey and orange from various organic compounds floating around in the water. The key rule in Everglades fashion is to never wear anything nice or new, so these khaki pants that I’ve had since 9th grade are perfect for the field. Ambiguous Event T-shirts Again, nice new clothing is never worn in the field, so research is the perfect opportunity to get use out of bizarre free T-shirts from volunteer events and raffle gift bags. If you are caught wearing Ambiguous Event T-shirts while transitioning between the field and your home, however, you will be inevitably be questioned by people who intensely read your T-shirt. ...

Today’s post is the last installment of my series “Grad Student Life Beyond Fieldwork.” Take a look at Part 1 (Classes), Part 2 (Teaching) and Part 3 (Our Offices) to read about other facets of grad student life. Part 4, the post you are reading now, is about the labs where we produce and analyze data. Some measurements we use for our research, like water temperature and salinity, can be measured directly in the field. Other more complicated things like “cyanobacteria community structure” involve taking field samples back to a lab (or multiple labs) for extensive analysis. Below I have posted a “virtual tour” of the lab I work in, the Microbial Ecology Lab at FIU, to give readers an idea of what grad students and scientists do other than walk around wearing lab coats.  Above is the door to the lab. It basically says, “Welcome! You are about to encounter biological materials, carcinogens, flammable materials and high voltage equipment! You should probably turn around.” ...