I've updated my photo journal, go check it out!
For my project I am basically going to be growing bacteria that could potentially assist in finding the cure for cystic fibrosis. I have to make a very specific media (media meaning bacteria food) and then taking samples of sputum from a patient and see if any bacteria grows. Once the bacteria grows I have to test the amounts of ammonia the bacteria is producing. I'm testing this to see if a certain process happens inside the lung of a patients with cystic fibrosis. The rest of the information is a secret.
I need to use my lab skills and some math skills. I also need to make sure that I stay organized, it's important that I label everything with my name, date, and what it is or things could get very messy and confusing. Its also important that I take neat and efficient notes so I can look back at them later if needed. I need some support when working in the lab because I'm still trying to figure out how everything works, but I can learn that from my mentor and ask question to some other people in the lab. Hopefully everything works out well, i'm really excited about it! So far I have gotten a lot of work done and I'm learning a lot. There are many different scientist here and they are all studying things that are very different from one another but they still work together and help each other with their work. I know that their studies are very important, some are studying coral and marine life and some are doing human research. So far I've had to be very responsible because I'm out of the classroom and doing an actual job, I don't always have someone looking over my shoulder 24/7 to make sure that I'm doing what I'm suppose to or that I'm where I'm suppose to be. I have so be responsible for my work and mature so that I don't mess my project up.
While being here I've had to use a lot of what I learned from my chemistry and biology class. I've had to search the lab for various chemicals and it was really helpful that I actually knew a little bit about some of the chemicals, it made it easier for me to find them. I use a lot of the same skills in the lab that I do when we have labs in biology class. Those skills have been very helpful to me while I was here I really like the job that I'm doing in the lab. I'm learning a lot about what Robby does on a daily basis and what it's like to do research and experiments. I really like the lab environment that I'm in, It's a lot of fun and all the research is exciting and cool to look at and hear about. I haven't met that many of my colleagues yet but everyone has been a lot of help and super nice, I think they're used to having interns around that they don't know. I'm excited about doing my experiment when I'm more independent and more comfortable in the lab.
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