I can do Science me

"I have, though we are still working out the details. Basically a river diatom study. The diatoms are taking over river ecosystems and with samples of them, we can learn about their genetic make up, gentetic map, and hopefully how to keep them under control.

Sarah Spaulding from the USGS is going to be the head PI on the study. I will be putting you in contact shortly.

Thanks so much,
let me know you thoughts on this. and when do you leave exactally?

Cheers,
G"


Just sent an email and got a reply today about the Adventure and science scheme. Not exactly sure if we get alot out of it yet, will have to check but they have found us a project which looks easy and pretty interesting even if we do it for free. I m guessing we will just have to take the odd sample at each river. I did a project on Diatoms last year so once we know details etc i will write a blog post or perhaps a page on the website?

Just got am email from the adventure for science people, it doesn't seem like we will get anything out of it but i m still keen as it seems pretty easy. I am going to email them to see if they can pay postage of the samples. I will ty and do a blog post over the next few days

BIODIVERSITY OF DIATOMS

Although diatoms (single celled algae) are used extensively as indicators in environmental studies, we know that there are many species that remain undiscovered. The purpose of this investigation is to explore new habitats, document new distributions, and describe new species. In a world where species are becoming extinct at an alarming rate, we need to understand these poorly known organisms in order to save them. Samples are to be collected from diverse and remote aquatic habitats for analysis at INSTAAR, University of Colorado. The samples will be processed to examine the diatom species composition using light and scanning electron microscopes. The results will be used to update geographic distributions and to formally describe new species. The information will be used in both scientific publications and public outlets (Diatoms of the United States website) to inform students and citizens about microbial biodiversity.

I would be most grateful for collections of diatoms from Sri Lanka.

The instructions are quite simple;

DIATOM COLLECTION FOR BIODIVERSITY

Diatoms grow attached on wet surfaces, as well as floating in the water. Material on surfaces is generally more abundant and will make for higher numbers of cells. Guides should look for places that have a slippery film, often golden brown in color. The collection should be made with a clean spoon or knife of visible material. Collect up to 1 cm2 of the rock surface, place it on a business card, and fold the business card in half. It is nice to have the samples dried before placing in a zip lock bag, but not crucial. Because diatoms have silica cell walls, they don't decompose. The samples can be kept dry and mailed to me at the address below.

For each site, record with a sharpie on the zip lock bag

SITE NAME: Colorado River, at Phantom Canyon Ranch
LAT:
LONG:
DATE:
COLLECTOR NAME:
COLLECTOR CONTACT:
HABITAT NOTES: sample from moss covered wet wall
PHOTO OF THE SITE: (also helpful)

More detailed information on diatoms is available at:
http://westerndiatoms.colorado.edu/

Please let me know if you have questions.

Regards,

Sarah Spaulding
USGS/INSTAAR
Campus Box 450
University of Colorado, Boulder
Boulder CO 80309

looks interesting

Seen this? Take it it's the same thing?
http://www.kayakvenezuela.co.uk/environmental-work.html
I take it we'll just have to take out some test tube samples?
Ie, it won't be too heavy?
We're going to be v. restricted with weight as it is.

"The collection should be made with a clean spoon or knife of visible material. Collect up to 1 cm2 of the rock surface, place it on a business card, and fold the business card in half. It is nice to have the samples dried before placing in a zip lock bag, but not crucial. Because diatoms have silica cell walls, they don't decompose. The samples can be kept dry and mailed to me at the address below."

I m guessing we can just get some card and zip lock bags out there?