Nile Red Dye & AZ NV Science Academy Prep

     This was a productive week for a few reasons. To begin, I was able to dye the rest of the filters, with Cassandra, from every stage of the waste water treatment process. This set us up to get a count of the micro plastics from every stage. 

    I also was able to attend an online abstract workshop and learned quite a bit. With that information fresh in my head I sat down and completed an abstract for the upcoming Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science annual meeting where I will be presenting a poster about microplastics and the chemical contaminants identified last semester some of those might have potentially been carrying. I am excited for the opportunity to get out and share what myself and the team have learned so far. 

    Finally, I also had to create some new sample-salt gradient solutions in which I will be will be filtering next week. We had some control questions with out current filters and it was warranted to redo a part of the process to ensure we had the highest quality of results. I will be excited to see those results by the end of next week. 

As I prepare of these next few weeks I am filled with excitement to have the data and continue on in this process in dealing with potential solutions such as electrocoagulation. 

Spring Is Here

    After a much needed break it is time to turn it into high gear. I feel like I haven't been able to give my research as much attention as I would like due to a high class load, my fault, but am really excited for this. 

    This week we tried to dye our filters from the different stages of the wastewater treatment plant with nile red. However, the dye seemed off so we had to make another batch of nile red dye that should be ready by tomorrow. I will be coming in and dying our filters so that we can get them under the microscope and counted. 

    I was also able to gather most of what I needed for the electrocoagulation trials and am waiting on a last couple things but will be full steam ahead on that as well. I'm very excited to get some data and see how everything turns out.

    I was also offered a position with the University of Montana for their research program this summer. The focus will be ImmunoToxicology and the effects of environmental factors, particles, and medications on the respiratory system.