in thAs I’m writing this, I’m sitting at the airport waiting to fly home. Ytzae and I went to UO main campus with Nicole after dropping everyone else at the airport because our flights were later in the afternoon. I’m excited to go back home but at the same time a bit sad to leave my summer in Oregon behind. I know I will see some of my friends again because we live near and I’m happy for everything that I accomplished during my stay at OIMB. I mean I completed a research proposal, poster presentation, experiments, video analysis, professional development, and much more. This summer was full of discoveries, learning, and self-development and I couldn't be more proud and happy. This last week was pretty relaxed, I didn’t have much lab work to do other than labeling my data, sharing my notes, and helping set future projects in my lab. We went to Hall Lake on Wednesday which was one of my favorite summer days here. The place is beautiful and the weather was nice as well so we got to swim in the lake, play in the sand dunes and enjoy nature. We also had our posters symposium and although I enjoyed talking to everyone about my research, it was a bit awkward and tiring as it was my first time presenting at a poster session. I'm planning on presenting at future conferences too so it serve me as practice to know what to expect. To end the week we had a goodbye potluck with all of the mentors at Richard’s house. We ate tuna, some delicious quinoa salad, and cranberry pie. I said goodbye to George and Erin as well and it was a bit emotional but I’ll make sure we stay in touch. And just like that, my 9 weeks in Oregon are gone. I know all the knowledge and connections I made will stay forever and I’m excited to see what everyone does in the next chapter of life. Thank you so much NSF and OIMB for the support and for giving me this experience. I can’t think of a better way to combine learning, research, and adventuring than here.
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My main memory from week 8 is merely doing computer work for my poster. It involved a lot of editing photos with imageJ and organizing my thoughts. I also repeated the same experiment of fixing and staining barnacle embryos in their peristaltic stage but with CytB and Pronase-treated cells. Even though the posters are ready to review, we are still actively conducting research and planning experiments for next week. We are thinking of making a good timeline of the CytB treatments we did early this summer for reference in future projects, and to keep raising treated embryos till Friday. Outside of the lab, we had a very interesting professional development session about imposter syndrome and defining your identity. I learned a lot about myself, my social circle, and about my personality. I also learned that I identify myself with several things, but I dont fit in any of the imposter syndrome identities because I have a bit of each one. This workshop is helping me grow and understand myself better. On the fun side, this week my whole lab went to grab dinner at 7 devils, which seems to be everyone's favorite spot. We mainly discussed letters of recommendation, graduate school, and how to properly cook lobster mushrooms. We also did a crab boil with the Sought Slough interns on Saturday where we cooked around 50 invasive green crabs! Colleen and Sebastian have been collecting these crabs all summer for their studies so it was time to try them. It was so much fun to connect with everyone after a long week doing poster things. The girls and I also hit the food truck music festival in Charleston, and even though we got there at the end, almost every food truck there gave us free food. We ate spicy clam chowder, mini shrimps, ice cream, and fried bread. After that we had a spa night with snacks, face masks and good movie. Monday marks the beginning of my last week here. I have so many mixed feelings because I will miss this place and my cohort, but at the same time, I am ready to go back home and share my gained knowledge with my community. This week has been a rollercoaster of emotions. Since I started drafting my poster and comparing pictures, I needed to go back and check what experiments I was missing to document. In between repeating experiments for the stages missing, preparing the CMLC presentation for Saturday, having the weekly REU sessions, and raising my embryos, we decided to start with a new experiment. We fixed embryos at their peristalsis stage and stained their DNA, actin, and myosin filaments. For visualization we used the confocal scope, which is similar to what Gina has been doing. This treatment was not new to us but it was the first time trying it with embryos at a very early stage, so we are still analyzing results and ways to mount slides without damaging the cells. I know this sounds like a lot and it was, but I enjoy having a productive week and with the arrival of a new scientist in the lab, Bill, the whole lab was very busy. I forgot to mention that Nicole and I helped Colleen with some field work too. We went to the South Slough estuary to set some traps for crabs in her project, and let me tell you, mud can be very fun, but not when you are stuck and you lose a boot. Still, that experience was amazing, memorable and fun. edTo end the work week, OIMB organized the invertebrate ball, and I'm gonna let you guess what Chloe and I dressed as (see picture below). Lisa and Debbie prepared some awesome treats and the PhD students decorated the dining hall with an under the sea theme. Now that I mention it, the girls and I went into town to celebrate Chloe`s 21st birthday which was so fun! This week we also celebrated Colleen`s birthday and we were able to go and listen to some live music at 7 devils. Some of us even participated in Coos Bay activities like the wine walk where we visit many small shops in downtown and had wonderful conversations with locals
For the CMLC presentation, Gina, Annika, and I dissected barnacles and showed the different stages of the embryos and larvae under the microscope. We showed a couple of videos from our projects and it was a really good practice of scientific communication and interaction with the public. Thanks to that, I feel more confident in public speaking and explaining science to general audiences. I`m so excited to have my poster ready and share it with you in 2 weeks! As promised, this work week went really nice, and I was more motivated and productive too. Part of this is because on Saturday Gina and I went on an incredible adventure to the Umpqua river and the sand dunes near Reedsport. The weather, the place, and even the music from the radio station were on point which made it very enjoyable. I'm still amazed to see the different landscapes Oregon has to offer like the beach, the sand dunes, the river, and lakes next to the green forest in the mountains, WOW! Also, on Sunday some of the REUs and I went to the wildlife safari in Bandon for a very cute experience with goats, deers, and other species, and to end week 5, we watch the iconic White Chicks movie. Having a fun weekend boosted my energy to start again on the right foot and with the return of Erin to the lab, everything started to get back in place. I've been getting lots of broods from the barnacles to do my experiments. I continue doing similar treatments (now working with PABA and pronase mainly) but in bigger groups and I've been growing them with penicillin and streptomycin as antibiotics to prevent the cells from getting bacteria. I also change the water every day and cover them to prevent dehydration. Some of the raised cells have achieved gastrulation successfully but there is no sign of a significant change yet. I believe we have to wait until the larvae stage to notice how the removal of the eggshell or the stop of the peristaltic contractions affects their biology. Although we didn't have a seminar on Wednesday, I engage myself with some library books about botanic plants and invertebrates. This will help me prepare for the upcoming invertebrate ball next week. I also started drafting my poster and taking stills from videos to use on it. To do that I learned how to use Fiji on ImageJ and some other computer skills. I am really looking forward to the last 3 weeks of my internship as there will be some different activities to do and in between that, I'll continue enjoying my time at OIMB, exploring the coast, and learning something new every day. See you next Monday! |
Sherlyn SanchezHello :) I'm Sher, a first-gen biology student transferring to UCSD and passionate about science. This summer I'll be working in George von Dassow`s lab doing barnacle embryology research. In this blog, I'll be sharing some of my adventures and life updates at the OIMB. Archives
August 2022
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