Week 9: Plastic 3 and the The Tunnel of Oppression

(mold on plastic 3)

Our plastic 3 is finally decontaminated after two PIA plate test showed possible mold growth. The final fix was boiling the alcohol treated plastic directly in the hood. Now tomorrow we can begin to co-incubate plastic 3 with the Pseudomonas and the TSB. Also tomorrow we are going to check the 7 day samples and possibly remove the plastics from the Pseudomonas. Completely unrelated but very interesting; I attended the tunnel of oppression here on campus yesterday. It was very emotional, eye opening , in your face, and informative.  I recommenced everyone go out and see it because it is important and the different organizations have done an amazing job of conveying the challenges they and many others are facing. It is more then worth your time. I took my kids and they had so many questions and I hope that it will be that way for many people, It should provoke many questions, thoughts, and feelings. Go check it out next spring!

Week 8: Phase 2

This week has mostly been prep for phase two of our project; Will the Pseudomonas degrade micro plastics 3, 4, 5, and 6? We have all our plastics sterilized and have our bacteria ready to co-incubate tomorrow. (might not use plastic 6) So it been a relatively slow week which is amazing because it has given me the chance to join the Robotics Club, something that I have wanted to do since finding out we had a Robotics club at PC. I am so excited for Phase two and also to learn how to build a robot and to also program it. Lots of fun and exciting stuff ahead! 
A very broken and incomplete Roomba (photo shown above) will be the chassis for my "Ratbot"

Week 7: WAESO was great

After all the fear and anticipation the WAESO conference was actually really nice and I am so glad we went. It was not as big as i thought it would be and honestly our posters looked amazing! Just how the poster is printed out makes a huge difference. Ours stood out. We are not sure if any of our poster have been recognized,  we are waiting for an email.  Even if they are not, we definitely leaned alot so the experience alone was well worth it.  The guest speaker were incredibly inspiring and now I'm actually excited to go to the next conference.  Once again,  shout out to my wonderful team, Ibrahim, Kassy, and Dr. Cotter! Job well done!

Week 6: The day before the WAESO conference

As you can see this image shows a whole other conference. So here we are, on the eve of my first scientific conference ever and I just finished applying for the next one at ASU west. I almost have no words. I am excited and nervous for the conference tomorrow but the thought of another one around the corner kind of kills the vibe. I am going to soak in tomorrow as best as I can and take my experience with me to all the other conferences coming up. I am sure by the next two I will feel like a pro (I hope). I cant wait to fill everyone in on how its goes. Lastly, but most importantly, I need to say that my team, Ibrahim and Kassy, have done such a great job on these posters. Working around so many different schedules and still getting it done on time is absolutely amazing. You guys should be proud of your hard work and I know that it will show tomorrow. I am very honored to be a part of this team. And I can not forget Dr. Cotter for always being there to help, guide, and push us when ever needed. She is an extraordinary Mentor and leader. Thank you guys for all you help so far this semester. Good luck tomorrow.