S2:11 Seven Students, 2 Research Mentors,1 Van, and a Conference

https://aznvas.org/meeting/

Seven Students, 2 Research Mentors,1 Van, and a Conference
It's crunch time in the lab this week due to the upcoming ASU Symposium and the Arizona Nevada Academy of Science Conference. I just wrapped up my experiment and am almost finished analyzing my data. I am so glad that I was able to filter the rest of my samples after having the hiccup last week with the vacuum filter.  My poster is about ready to go, I just need to plug in my data and write the discussion section. I am definitely still nervous about having to talk about my project to total strangers because it usually involves maintaining eye contact and not zoning out in my head. 

S2:10 ....A Vacuum With a Sucking Problem?

....A Vacuum With a Sucking Problem?
I was really looking forward to running the rest of my samples this week but then I had an unexpected problem with the vacuum filtration system. Typically the system filters the water relatively quick (about 500mL under two minutes). For some odd reason, I noticed tons of air bubbles between the Buchner funnel and the porous plate. After two hours of trying to figure out what was wrong and testing a few things, we still haven't figured out what was wrong. What I was left wondering was if it is possible for the porous plate to be clogged. After talking with my current biology professor, he suggested soaking the plate in some type of acid. I am hoping to try this tip on Friday so I can finish filtering the water samples. In the meantime, I am trying to prepare my poster for the upcoming ASU Symposium. I am also in the process of registering for the AZ Nevada Academy of Science Conference. 

Source: https://chem.libretexts.org/Demos%2C_Techniques%2C_and_Experiments/Basic_Lab_Techniques/Vacuum_Filtration

S2:9 Just a Girl Living in a Plastic World

Just a Girl Living in a Plastic World
Going into this research project, I knew that people, including myself, use plastic in their daily lives. However, it wasn't until I started my experiment that I realized just how dependent we are on plastic. Think about it and ask yourself, "How many times today did you use plastic or plastic-related materials?" As for me, when I reflected on this, I realized I come into contact with plastic several times a day. Almost everyday, including today, my microwavable lunch comes in a plastic container. The fork I use to eat lunch is plastic. My water bottle is plastic. That's a lot of plastic!
Aside from pondering about how much plastic society depends on, I also began to start my project poster while I waited for the small glass petri dishes to get delivered by Amazon. Once they arrived, I washed them in distilled water and placed them into the laminar air flow hood to dry. It was a long process but pretty to look at.

S2:8 It's All About Control

It's All About Control
This week was all about brainstorming how to control for the independent variable since. Initially, distilled water seemed to be a good control but when I ran it through the filtration system and analyzed the sample, I saw a significant amount of microfibers and other unknown pieces of material under the dissection scope. As a result, I decided to try and filter a large quantity of distilled water several times in hope that I would see the quantity of microfibers and particles decrease after each filtration. After filtering the distilled water sample three times, I can still see the presence of microfibers and unknown pieces of material. I am going to try and filter the sample a few  more times and see if I can at least filter out all the microfibers.

S2:7 Out of the Lab and Off to D.C.

Out of the Lab and Off to D.C.
This past week was particularly hectic, but I would redo it in a heartbeat. I missed the first part of the internship week, because I had to fly to Washington, D.C. for a few days. I'm part of this political advocacy fellowship program where we are taught to advocate to our legislative members for the continuance of antipoverty programs like SNAP, MEDICAID, USAID, and the Global Fund. During the fellowship year, we fly out twice to Washington, D.C. and speak with Senate and Congressional Representatives. My favorite part of the policy summit was speaking with representatives on the importance of continuing to increase the funding for the Global Fund and USAID Fund, because Tuberculosis is the leading infectious disease killer among people around the world. Supporting programs like the Global Fund and USAID  can help other countries gain access to newer equipment and educational support to help with programs that reduce childbirth-related death rates, lower rates of TB infections, and many other programs. I also really enjoyed seeing how science can intersect with policy. After lobbying some AZ representatives, I flew back to Phoenix and picked up on the Microplastics project. Project highlights from this week included receiving the all glass jars and disseminating them out to fellow interns. I also spent some time brainstorming faster ways to collect water samples from around the Valley of Phoenix. I decided that I am going to ask my biology classmates to bring in samples. I think I will be able to collect water samples from all 13 villages in Phoenix. My goal is about 30 samples. We shall see what happens!

S2.6: I Saw Some Stuff Under the Microscope!!!!

 I Saw Some Stuff Under the Microscope!!!!

This week in internship, I started to run samples through the vacuum filter. So far, I have a total of seven samples (Shout out to everyone who collected and brought in a sample from their home!) and have tested four samples. The video above provides insight into the experimental process. Our attempt is to reduce contamination since theoretically, microfibers can be found in the air, and basically everywhere. With that being said, all the samples are ran in a laminar airflow. The first seven samples were collected in glass jars that contained black plastic caps, and this was due to lack of access to other collection containers.  Moving forward, we are now able to collect future samples in glass jars with metal lids to reduce water sample interaction with plastic. After running the four samples and analyzing them under the microscope, I saw what appeared to be microfibers in most of the water samples. I am looking forward to using non-plastic containers to collect and test more samples. 

S2.5: Off to an Exciting Start!!!

                                                                Off to an Exciting Start!!! 
Despite having three exams, this week went pretty well. I do have to give a shout out to my favorite study-buddy/tutor, Willie (see above video). In regards to the internship,I was super stoked when the filters arrived this week. Yesterday, I was able to run a sample test (referred to as "blank" of my experiment by using distilled water and filtering it through the vacuum filter for any microplastics and/or microfibers. Interestingly enough, after filtering and staining the filter, I saw the presence of microfibers when placed under the dissection microscope. The next time I am in the lab, I am going to stain a filter and place it under the dissection microscope without filtering any water. The purpose of running the blank and looking at an unused filter is to try and identify any potential sources of microplastic/microfiber contamination prior to filter the water samples. Basically, we want to be able to tell if the samples of water are being contaminated by our equipment during the filtering process. I am also looking forward to helping out with the Hermanas conference tomorrow! I really enjoy outreach!