Peddie EXP 2014: Sophie Kennedy B.I.O.S. week 4

This week I got to live in one of the dorm rooms at BIOS which was an awesome experience because I finally had the chance to bond with the interns outside of the lab. Monday and Tuesday we made dinner at another intern’s apartment and then Dr. Peretz came to Bermuda on Wednesday!!! Dr. Peretz and I went to the town of Hamilton for dinner. I had hoped to take her to harbor nights (a Wednesday night event in town similar to a street fair) but it turned out to be a stormy night. I really enjoyed showing her our lab and the BIOS facility as both of us dreamed of bringing a group of Peddie kids here. (I’m thinking an EXP field trip?)

On Tuesday we went out to collect and put back the corals from the patch reef. The corals are put back on the reef by using underwater cement that Lea and I made a few days before. We were supposed to collect the rim reef corals and put some back however the weather was not quite working in our favor this week. On Wednesday the wind was so strong that it snapped the roof of our wet lab in half. So I spent most of the week helping Kevin take pictures and map the growth of the spat (settled planula). The process of mapping spat growth starts with cleaning each tile: ensuring that each spat is growing on a flat surface, can be photographed, and is circled. In order to obtain the reasonable data, we sometimes need to kill a spat that is growing into another. Then by attaching a lens that extends into the microscope to the camera, I can take pictures of each circled spat. We had a worm infestation one day and found that many spat had been eaten but with thorough washing our tanks are nice and worm free now!

The past few weeks have consisted more of collecting data versus settling the planula or looking for spat. I spent most days taking pictures for the 10 day, 20 day, and 4 week checks for the porites and favia. As tiles are lost and spat are accidently touched our data is messed up. I was shocked at how much human error is present in scientific experiments. In school labs I always mentioned human error as a possible source of error however it wasn’t until my time in Sam’s lab that I truly saw how often it occurs.

I finally made it out on Friday for my two last open water dives. I am now a certified open water SCUBA diver! We dove a shipwreck a couple miles off shore (a rim reef). I was amazed at all the brain coral and sea fans. I also had the chance to meet a few other interns- one goes to Princeton!

I could not be happier with my choice to work at B.I.O.S. this summer. I never just have to concentrate on my lab work but, with my P.I.'s encouragment, I was able to get my open water certification, help teach a class with her, and get my lionfish spearfishing permit. I do wish that I had my own project that I worked on all summer however I have learned so much with the 5 of us working as a team. Overall it has been an amazing experience and I am torn that I only have a little over a week left here.