Camping was amazing! We stayed at a campsite perfectly situated between the forest, beach, and beautiful hiking spots. We completed a 4-mile hike around the coast of Cape Arago, saw a whale in the distance, and ate amazing sandwiches while watching the seals duke it out on the rocks below. Afterwards, we enjoyed a hot and sunny beach day filled with tide pooling, rock climbing, and spike ball. Pictures below! This week in the lab, we learned how to utilize the ultramicrotome, which is basically a teeny-tiny deli meat slicer. Lauren Rice (Young lab PhD candidate) gave us a step-by-step on how to prepare the knife, use the intricate levers, and shave the resin block into a perfect square to make the slicing more precise. The machine we work with cuts at 300 nanometers (a sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers thick; imagine 333 times thinner than that!). Next, we looked at pictures of the hydrothermal vents our samples were collected from. In comparison to the Ifremeria, it was easier to see that the Alviniconcha have gold tips at the end of their shell, are more mustard-colored, and are extra furry-looking. Later in the week, we worked on the SEM with Avery (Young lab Masters candidate) and started transferring our first round of dehydrated snail shell bits onto stubs. To do this, we attached special tape onto the stubs to make the surface sticky. Then, we carefully attached the specimen to the stub. We made one stub for 4 species of snails: A. kojimai, A. boucheti, A. strummeri, and Ifremeria. After all the spines were attached to stubs, we brought the samples to the sputter coater. Here, a machine coats the sample in an atom-thick layer of gold using argon gas. My favorite part about this week was the spontaneous trip Ytxzae and I took to Newport. Along with our mentor, Craig Young, we travelled two hours north to pick up a part for OIMB's recently broken ROV. We saw breathtaking beaches during the journey and talked about Oregon history, our hometowns, favorite movies, and most importantly - the best types of cheese. Also, we went tide pooling and had the chance to look at remarkable creatures hiding along the coast. Lastly, my favorite activity this week was taking a sunset walk to decompress after a long day of ultramicrotome and SEM processing. We took a stroll on OIMB Beach and sat on the jetty, watching the ships roll in as the sun slowly disappeared behind the clouds. I made a little video below! Ignore the "California" lyric - the song is just too good not to use. See you next week!
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AuthorHello! My name is Flynn Gorman and I am working in the Young Lab and studying the embryology of the gastropods Ifremeria nautilei and Alviniconcha this summer. I am from New Jersey and I am pursuing a B.S. in Biology at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. I also work at a coffee shop on campus and act as the PR Director for my acapella group. Archives
August 2022
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