Hi everyone! Thank you for joining me in my final week of this summer journey with barnacles.
Last weekend was truly our last weekend. We celebrated with the South Slough interns with a crab boil party. The invasive European green crabs were collected by Colleen and Sebastian during their 10 weeks of research. Chloe and I tried crab and shrimp for the first time! We all had fun getting to know the South Slough interns better. Victoria, Chloe, Sherlyn and I had some delicious boysenberry frybread (or as we call them back home - elephant ears), free clam chowder, free shrimp, and free ice cream at the Charleston Seafood Festival. We had our last girl’s night, complete with face masks, snacks, and Lindsay Lohan! On Thursday I started PCR, Polymerase Chain Reaction, for barcoding the DNA of cyprids. PCR allows identification of the DNA or RNA of organisms. On Friday I began the gel electrophoresis - the movement of charged particles in a fluid or gel under the influence of an electric field. Richard will pick up where I left off. It feels very relieving to finally have my poster complete! So much hard work went into our posters, and they all turned out wonderful. It felt good to have others in the scientific community appreciate our contributions and encourage our future endeavors. Wednesday afternoon Sherlyn, Chloe, Victoria, Gina, Colleen, Sebastian, J'mie, and I took a daytrip to Hall Lake. We swam in the beautiful blue waters and sunned on the giant sand dunes. Then we stopped for some pizza! Friday evening, we said our last goodbyes over a barbeque at Richard’s house. We had mac n cheese, and lots of fish. I am going to miss the friends I’ve made, so much. We will keep in touch! I got a recipe for a coconut Thai curry soup from Lisa for an amazing soup she made at the cafeteria. Victoria and I loved it, it was the best dish we’ve had at OIMB. We will attempt to recreate it at home and send a photo! I would like to thank Richard Emlet, Maya Watts, and Craig Young for allowing me this opportunity. Thank you, Richard, for guiding me through my first research experience, and teaching me the ins and outs of barnacles. Thank you, Nicole Nakata, for the endless help and support through this program. I appreciate you all! Your barnacle lover, Annika
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Hi everyone, welcome to week 8 - the finishing touches!
Last weekend was the Invertebrate Ball! I dressed as a snail last minute, with antennae (pipe cleaners attached to barrettes), and a shell (a backpack stuffed with a pillow). There were many amazing costumes with a lot of hard work put into them! After the ball, we went to Seven Devils to watch a local band perform. On Saturday we presented at the Charleston Marine Life Center. We had about 30 visitors who came with many interesting questions! It was an excellent hands-on opportunity to improve my public speaking skills and engage with the public. This week I have been working on my poster. I was unable to get Balanus nubilus and Pollicipes polymerus to settle, however I photographed Pollicipes polymerus juveniles that settled onto an adult’s neck. Richard was kind enough to allow me to use an image he took of a settled Balanus nubilus, so I am not missing any images! I have 6 species, with two photos each - one photo of its cyprid stage, and one photo of its juvenile stage. On Tuesday we attended a leadership training session, and a session on imposter syndrome. I found the imposter syndrome session very helpful, as it seems a taboo to discuss. We learned about the different types of imposter syndrome, and techniques to fight the negative thoughts associated with each type. Imposter syndrome is defined as “doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud”. I found out that all of the REU’s experienced imposter syndrome during the first couple of weeks here, which was comforting to know how common it is. We all thought I was alone in that experience, but little did we know we were in the same boat! I think the session would have been very helpful during week one or two. Wednesday we shared lunch with Ed Hughes from Oregon Fish and Wildlife. He discussed the career path he took, and shared his love for salmon. On Wednesday afternoon we had a seminar with Dr. Melva Treviño Peña from the University of Rhode Island Department of Marine Affairs. She discussed her experience engaging with diverse coastal communities, and the importance of listening to the communities and allowing them to engage in the research. On Thursday afternoon she discussed how to create our paths in academia, and the benefits of taking the traditional or non-traditional path. Wednesday evening was our poster critique session! It was great to see everyone’s beautiful posters. We received great feedback, and set to work on our revisions. It felt good having a physical representation of my summer’s research. After our critique session, we revised our posters and turned in our final products on Friday. Over the weekend Maya and Richard will give us our final feedback, and we will have until Tuesday to continue revisions. On Wednesday Nicole will print them, and next Friday we will present them! This weekend is our last, and there are some good low tides. We hope to go tidepooling for the last time. Thanks for joining me along my summer adventure with barnacles! Until next week! Annika Welcome to week seven! On Tuesday, Craig Young and Svetlana Maslakova gave us advice on applying to grad school, letters of recommendation, and deciding which lab we want to work in. We talked with past REU’s of the EMBOC program, and asked them our raw and unfiltered questions about the grad school experience. It was nice getting to hear the opinions and experiences from both current grad students, and PhD researchers. Tuesday night Victoria, Colleen, Sherlyn, Gina, and I celebrated with Chloe on her birthday! We shared a fun, relaxing night complete with yummy drinks, delicious chocolate mousse, and strawberry shortcake. It’s been lovely getting to know my fellow REU friends, and share this exciting new experience! Wednesday we attended a seminar with Dr. Ana Spalding from OSU. She discussed her experience working with marine policy, MPA management research, and international lifestyle migrations in humans. I learned about the clash between protecting the environment and protecting people’s livelihoods, and how to protect both without disrupting the other. I was able to get 10 Amphibalanus improvisus to settle! I have sufficient photos of Balanus glandula and Chthamalus dali. I have some good photos of Balanus crenatus and Amphibalanus improvisus, but I want more images of their villi. I currently have not been successful in settling Balanus nubilus or Pollicipes polymerus. I will now try C.A Lewis’s method in having a live Pollicipes polymerus adult present with the settlement plate, in a last resort to get the cyprids to settle. I’ve been preparing for Saturday’s CLMC session all week! Sherlyn, Gina, and I will be collaborating, as all three of us are working with barnacles - they are working with the embryological development of barnacles - specifically with mitosis I and meiosis II divisions. I will be bringing live barnacle cyprids and a compound microscope, for visitors to take a look. I’ll have a 3D model of a cyprid to help visitors to better visualize the tiny organism. I created some “barnacle pokemon cards” to help the kids better understand larval stages, as they “level up”. Sherlyn and Gina will have a tub of live adult barnacles for visitors to touch and examine, and they will demonstrate live barnacle dissections! I have a lot of exciting plans to look forward to this weekend! Friday night is the invertebrate ball, it will be pretty interesting to see what creative costumes everyone has come up with. My family is visiting on Saturday to check out our CMLC sessions. There is a food truck festival in Charleston this weekend, and we’re going to check it out - I can’t wait! Only two more posts to come! You can look forward to hearing more about my CMLC session and the invertebrate ball in my week eight post. My week nine post will include my poster session, and my final results of my research project. Super exciting! Annika Hi everyone! Welcome back, to week six! Last weekend Victoria, Chloe, Sherlyn, Sebastian, and I took a day trip to the Bandon Petting Zoo! I spent about an hour petting capybaras through their fence. I also got to pet a Siberian brown bear cub! There were many donkeys, deer, goats, rams, alpacas, and chickens wandering around the zoo. I loved spending time petting all of the lovely creatures! I noticed a deer struggling to get some grass from under the fence, so I gathered a few handfuls for him to enjoy. Soon, fifteen deer and five goats surrounded me, loudly demanding more grass! I hurried as fast as I could, scrambling to reach for more clumps of grass, but it wasn't quick enough - they began gnawing at my clothing! It was adorable. On Tuesday we attended a training session at the CMLC - Charleston Marine Life Center - on how to present scientific research to the public. We discussed how to avoid using scientific jargon and how to effectively communicate with various age groups and visitors from different backgrounds. Our goal is to share our research projects with the public in an accessible and interesting way. We learned techniques we can use to help engage visitors and encourage them to participate. I have been planning how I will set up my booth and preparing for it. Next Saturday we will each be presenting our projects to the public at the CMLC! I think it should be fun. My family will be attending, as well as kids from a local high school and middle school. I currently have have 28 Chthamalus dali settled juveniles, 20 Balanus glandula, and 4 Balanus crenatus, and no Pollicipes polymerus, Balanus nubilus or Amphibalanus improvisus settlers on my sea table plates. I am documenting their development through daily photographing. I will share some images below for your viewing pleasure! This week I made the decision to retire my sea plates. I have had sea plates out in the boat basin since late June, in an attempt to collect more settled barnacles. While I have collected many, I’ve found them to be less valuable in terms of my research project. Everyday I:
The plates must be checked daily to ensure the age of the settler, or it is of no use. Taking trips back and forth to the boat basin daily takes time away from my other work. I do not know for sure the species of the settlers in the boat basin, but I do know the species of my sea table plates. Knowing the species is important for my research, as I am creating an identification guide. I’d like to focus my time on known settlers instead. Part of research is trial and error. Trying new methods, making mistakes, and trying new methods again based on results. Unfortunately, my gooseneck barnacle skin slides have not induced any settlement in Pollicipes polymerus. I collected more Pollicipes polymerus adults (gooseneck barnacles) to create a settlement extract. I dissected their necks using a razor blade, blended them in a food processor, centrifuged, boiled, and froze the solution. C.A. Lewis found that Pollicipes polymerus did not settle on biofilm plates with adult extract, but only settled when an alive adult Pollicipes polymerus had been present (C.A. Lewis, 1975). If my adult extract does not induce settlement, I will use her method in having a live adult present. This week I got a really great photo of Chthamalus dali, with its tergum and scutum visible! The tergum and scutum are two of a barnacle’s five calculus plates, and can be used to identify barnacle species. This weekend I will browse the CMLC museum for the first time, which should be fun! I’m also going to be working on my poster and preparing for my CMLC session next Saturday. Time is starting to fly by! See you next week - only three weeks left! Thanks for reading, Annika Hi everyone, welcome to week 8 - the finishing touches!
Last weekend was the Invertebrate Ball! I dressed as a snail last minute, with antennae (pipe cleaners attached to barrettes), and my backpack stuffed with a pillow as a "shell". There were many amazing costumes with a lot of hard work put into them! After the ball, we went to Seven Devils to watch a local band perform. On Saturday we presented at the Charleston Marine Life Center. We had about 30 visitors who came with many interesting questions! It was an excellent hands-on opportunity to improve my public speaking skills and engage with the public. This week I have been working on my poster. Out of the six species, I was unable to get Balanus nubilus and Pollicipes polymerus to settle, however I photographed Pollicipes polymerus juveniles that settled onto an adult’s neck. Richard was kind enough to allow me to use an image he took of a settled Balanus nubilus, so I am not missing any images! I have 6 species, with two photos each - one photo of its cyprid stage, and one photo of its juvenile stage. On Tuesday we attended a leadership training session, and a session on imposter syndrome. I found the imposter syndrome session very helpful, as it seems a taboo to discuss. We learned about the different types of imposter syndrome, and techniques to fight the negative thoughts associated with each type. Imposter syndrome is defined as “doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud”. I found out that all of the REU’s experienced imposter syndrome during the first couple of weeks here, which was comforting to know how common it is. We all thought I was alone in that experience, but little did we know we were in the same boat! I think the session would have been very helpful during week one or two. Wednesday we shared lunch with Ed Hughes from Oregon Fish and Wildlife. He talked to us about his career pathway, fish, and more fish! He explained how OIMB and OFW work together, and is experiences with interns from OIMB. His passion for salmon was inspiring. On Wednesday afternoon we had a seminar with Dr. Melva Treviño Peña from the University of Rhode Island Department of Marine Affairs. She discussed her experience engaging with diverse coastal communities, and the importance of listening to the communities and allowing them to engage in the research. On Thursday afternoon she discussed how to create our paths in academia, the benefits of taking the traditional or non-traditional path, and how to carry our identities with us into the scientific community. Wednesday evening was our poster critique session! We received a lot of helpful feedback to begin our poster revisions. It was exciting to see everyone's beautiful work! We've all worked hard and come a long ways. It's nice to have a physical representation of our summer's research. After our critique session, we revised our posters and turned in our final products on Friday. Over the weekend Maya and Richard will give us our final feedback, and we will have until Tuesday to complete our revisions. On Wednesday Nicole will print the posters, and next Friday we will present them at our poster session! This weekend there are some good low tides, we hope to go tide-pooling for the last time, I can't believe it's our last weekend here! The REU's want to spend some more quality time together this weekend, before we part ways. It's weird to think I might not see some of these people again, who I've spent everyday of my summer with for the past couple months. I definitely want to stay in touch with the friends I've made! Thanks for joining me along my summer adventure with barnacles! Until next week, Annika |
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Hi! I'm Annika, a biology student attending Lane Community College. I will be researching cyprid larvae in the Emlet lab this summer. I look forward to sharing my findings on Cyprids. I love roller skating, my eleven penpals across the globe, my two cats, two guinea pigs, and the enchanting PNW woods - my forever home.
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