Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Day 12 - Water Samplers

Today Jordan and Matt were working with the summer camp in the OETL, so we were pretty much on our own. I tried to figure out how to install the water samplers using the instructions online and managed to get pretty far. But Cole and I were both puzzled by the step that says, "solder another black(-) and red(+) to the wire junctions you connected to the battery wires." There doesn't seem to be any free wire junctions in the control box... Hopefully we can figure it out or get some help tomorrow.

In the afternoon, I did some planning for my research project. I will research the effects of PPCPs (Pharmaceuticals & Personal Care Products) on the lipid production of algae. I chose this topic because I am interested in algae biodiesel as an alternative energy source and a way to clean up wastewater. Algae is hardy enough to grow in municipal wastewater, but I am curious about how PPCPs might affect them. Towards the end of the day, I met Brandy and discussed the project with her. We hope to find some lab space for my project and order algae and reagents by the end of the week! I will update information on the research once I figure out some more of the logistics.

Tomorrow we'll be off to the aquarium!

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