Week 11 Fall 2018: Finally FTIR

So this past Tuesday we finally went to the FTIR. It was surprisingly easier than using the SEM. The SEM can take almost an hour to process one sample but the FTIR yields almost instant results.  I think I favor it more because it gives us quantitative evidence vs qualitative with the SEM. We had great results. I was surprised to not see alcohol signatures since we sterilize our plastics in alcohol. It was so interesting and honestly an exciting boost to the project. Can't wait to work with it more.

Week 10 Fall 2018: Weight, Alcohol, Club, and ALZ

So this week we weighed out our plastics and alcohol treated them. PVC and PP show no contamination for now which is expected. I want to mention that today my Cohort and former partner is coming in to speak to STEAM Club today at 1230 in the c building room 322, please come and get information on scholarships, internships, and transfering. Ibrahim is full of good tips and tricks so come get some knowledge. I would also like to mention my weekend event, my family and I do the walk to end Alzheimer's and please save the date Nov 2, 2019 for next years walk. Please consider joining! Thanks guys!

Week 9 Fall 2018: The weak handed and Repetition

Well it's been an extremely busy week. I had to help run STEAM clubs activity at the fall festival on Monday. Then Wednesday was the Halloween market and I set up and stayed long enough to sell 3 jars of honey and of course we were out late trick or treating, the boys got so much candy so be ready cause I'm bringing some in guys! I had an exam this morning and honestly I was so foggy I wouldn't be surprised if I bombed it, so it's been busy to say the least. To explain this image and my title you have to know we are basically in the process of replicating our project for better consistency while using the FTIR. Our task this week and next is to punch out uniform peices of plastic with this heavy duty punch plier weigh them out and get statistics on the sample and then decontaminate in preparation for co-incubation. Well my hands are so weak and dainty that I could not get through our PVC, hopefully the workout I got today will help me get samples from our LDPE & PP. Big thanks to Josh, Amber, and Amanda for getting samples! (David got a couple as well) Thanks guys!

Week 8 Fall 2018: SEM, Guest Speaker, and ASU West

This week we prepped the stutzeri and fluorescence plastic 3 time study samples for the SEM (Scanning electron microscopy). Today we analyzed as much as we could but we had a guest speaker for STEAM club (I am VP for the club) so we had to cut our session short at the SEM so we could be in attendance. It kind of sucks for me though since I have a class and have to leave club early, so I missed most of the lecture which was about ecology and entomology. Shame. Tomorrow I look forward to the ASU West Mixer, I will get the opportunity to speak with the professor of Applied Computing about eventually joining their internship. Busy week.

Week 7 Fall 2018: FTIR (ghost) protocol

(https://talkfilmsociety.com/articles/blue-is-glue-red-is-dead-mission-impossible-ghost-protocol)

Well this week and last week we have been brainstorming and researching the best ways to use the FTIR for our co-incubated microplastic samples. We have found several articles that we can learn from. We are really trying to have consistency with our plastics which is a huge challenge considering microplastics are naturally irregular. We are working on a solution to this problem. Basically we have to create our own protocols for our biodegradation analysis. Hence my title, first off I love the movie and every time I hear the word protocol I think of it, but I thought the gif was fitting since I'm coming out of midterms this past week and a half.

Week 6 Fall 2018: Fall Break

(https://www.ewa.org/blog-educated-reporter/limits-testing-getting-beyond-standardized-story)

This week is fall break for my kids. I have no fall break. You can see how this can be a bit of a problem. I have not been in the lab this week but I have been busy. I have found new plastics and a very specific tool for the project. I have to turn in my background which is late. This week has been a busy one, I had two midterms and I have my last one next week for statistics. Well I promise to have something more exciting next week. One can only hope.

Week 5 Fall 2018: AZBIO conference

Let the fiesta begin! I am blogging as Kassy and I sit and wait for our cocktail hour to begin at the AZBIO Awards conference. We got here extremely early but it has been nice to claim a great spot near the front of the room. We have been walking around and have seen many interesting posters. The crowd is very diverse lots of young students and many different projects and I have yet to see one like ours. I am so excited for the festivities to begin. I'll let you all know how it ends next week. Time to order my complementary margarita.