charismaticmicrofauna

Since returning from my research cruise 3 months ago, winter break has come and gone and a new semester has begun. The samples that were collected at sea with the submersible ALVIN are being stored in a -80 degree celsius freezer in the laboratory. The relationship between my advisor and I has survived the pressure cooker situation of being on a ship together for one month with technical difficulties, huge amounts of grant money on the line, and often occurring fatigue. Have I mentioned that the cruise happened during my first semester of graduate school? It was truly a “sink or swim” situation. At times it felt like a “throw someone off the boat, or get thrown off of the boat yourself” situation. Tension could be quite high at times, but that is par for the course. Research at sea is a remarkable experience. People are still asking me, “How was it?”, and I say that it was magnificent and terrible. I can’t wait to do it again.

This semester in the lab I am continuing to optimize my experiments in preparation to run with the samples that we brought from sea.The samples from sea are high stakes, and I don’t want to risk losing data because I haven’t improved my experimental procedure as best as I can. I am also teaching a microbial physiology lab course for undergrads. As far as teaching assistant positions go, it’s not a bad gig. I have two groups of seniors who have elected to take the course, and they’re a sharp group of students. I am teaching them how to do an experiment where we create mutants using genetic material from two different strains of bacteria and hope that any of the mutants that we make cause an interruption in a functional gene that will prevent the bacteria from replicating. It is called random knock-out mutagenesis.

In addition to teaching and research I have been applying for conferences over the summer. One is a national microbiology conference in New Orleans where I am hoping to present my research, and another is a convention about science communication in Boston which is a subject close to my heart. Hopefully my applications are going to be accepted then I will be able to report back from both, but at least one or the other.

As I read back over this, I realize that I have been very busy preparing for my next adventures. I am looking forward to returning to sea in 2016 to continue my work with the deep sea hydrothermal vent microbes, and hopefully visiting the vent sites personally. I hope that you’ll stay with me.

“Sea” you later!

Happy Lunar New Year!