Canal Microbes
This August, I had the privilege of joining the Neuer Lab as an Undergraduate Researcher. Since then, I have spent my days shadowing and assisting graduate students with their projects, completing lab maintenance tasks, and writing my experiences in my lab journal. And hours of literature review. Being part of a lab is extremely rewarding. I see cool things every day I am in there.
One cool thing I have done recently is help make a wet mount from a sample of biocrust, or biological soil crust, found in a canal outside the lab. The biocrust was collected by Britni Livar, a PhD student at the Neuer Lab. She had rehydrated the biocrust by letting it sit in water before we got a sample.
We were unable to identify the organisms, but I found one nematode (roundworm), one platyhelminth (flatworm), and one rotifer. I also found another organism that may be a rotifer too. Maybe it’s a gastrotrich? I’m not sure.
I uploaded the footage to my Youtube Channel! (Click on the pictures to be redirected to the videos)
References:
www.usgs.gov/centers/southwest-biological-science-center/science/biological-soil-crust-biocrust-science/