I gave my final talk today, so my project is officially complete! While I did not get the data I had hoped for, I am proud of the final paper and presentation. This has been an amazing experience and I have learned so much!

I am now working on my paper and presentation. I did some research and read some methods papers, and have decided to focus my paper more on instructional how-to for growing algae in a high school lab. Data is a pretty key portion of most methods papers, and I don't have any, so doing it this way will highlight what I have learned, instead of the lack of data.

The data collection of my experiment has been permanently canceled. EOS center is closed, and I have no access to the MA lab. I will have to write a methods paper instead. It is very disappointing because I have been working on this for so long and I was so close to finally collecting data.

My proposal was approved and I am set to begin data collection. I have a calendar set up and will run the experiment twice; once the week before spring break and again the week after. Very exciting!

I am continuing to make progress on my experimental methods document. The last piece that needs to be completed is the section on inoculations. This has been stalling a bit because in order to approximate the growth rate, I need to know at what light level I will be growing the algae. This is challenging because the light sensor available to me measures in a different unit from the light sensor at the Cochlan lab. We did a mini-experiment to create a conversion, but it is challenging because their sensor has a wet and a dry setting, and I will need to figure out how to convert between the two. I have set a date (3/3/20) to present my methods to Bill, Chris, etc. Hopefully, my project will be approved and I will be set to begin data collection.

I received feedback on my experimental methods documents, and was able to fill in some the missing information. In general, the questions remaining are getting more and more focused as I learn more. I am making progress on reading the Algal Culturing Techniques textbook, and it has provided me with a solid base of background understanding of the topic. I have some questions about materials and what will be possible in the lab space available to me, so my next step will be getting those addressed. I look forward to finalizing my methods so a can gather all my materials and begin collecting data.

I am still waiting on feedback on my experimental methods document so that I can begin filling in more details and finalizing it. I have created a materials spreadsheet with all the basic materials I can think of. It has been a busy month in the lab, as the old project was finished and a new one started. In addition, the mentor who is helping me out on many aspects of my project has not been in the lab, so I have not gotten as much feedback as I would have liked. Now that I have a rough draft of everything, hopefully when my mentor returns in the new year I will be able to move quickly to final drafts and begin collecting data.

It has been a busy month, but my project is moving along. I am making progress reading through the Algal Culturing Techniques Textbook, and am starting to understand more. I just completed a rough draft of my full experimental methods, and sent it to my mentors to review. I have finalized more aspects of my study. My next step is to continue working on my methods, and to create a spreadsheet of supplies/materials I will need.

I have used the example experiment outline to create my own outline. There is still a few blank spaces with information I have not yet figured out, but I am making significant progress on the outline. My mentors have also been teaching me how to do calculation for media. It is pretty complicated, but I think I understand it and it will be very helpful once I begin choosing my own media recipe. My quarter one presentation was on Friday, and I think it went pretty well. Stori reminded me that I need a list of materials for the school to order, so I have brought this up with my mentors and will continue to work on that.

The planning of my new project is moving forward. One of my mentors at the lab gave me an example of an experiment outline upon which I will be basing my own. I will begin formulating this outline so I have a rough draft to bring next week. I am excited that I am making progress on this project and beginning to plan specifics. I have finished the first chapter of the textbook reading, and will be continuing reading, as it has been very informative so far.

There has been a slight change to my project. Some of my mentors at the EOS center noticed that Pseudo-Nitzschia seems to grow better in round glass tubes than plastic square containers. They were going to do a mini research project on it, but thought I may be able to instead. This would probably be more feasible than testing the effect of different ocean conditions, as I just need to keep the growth chamber conditions consistent instead of varying them in a controlled manner. I am still in the very beginning planning/approving stage, but I am excited to get more details and begin planning and testing. I need to figure out a way to get more light into the incubators, likely through an external light bank. I also must determine how consistent the temperature is inside the incubator.

I have been continuing my internship and it has been very informative so far. I will be going out to collect samples in the field this week, which is very exciting. My mentors have assigned me some chapters in the textbook: Algal Culturing Techniques, through which I am working my way. The reading is difficult, but very informative and will be helpful in formulating my methodology. The growth chamber for my project has been decided on. I will have access to two ReptiPro 600 Incubators. I have done some research on the capabilities of the incubator, and my next step is to bring this to my mentors at the Estuary and Ocean Science center. Hopefully they will be able to let me know what variable will be most feasible to test with in the incubators. From there, I will begin creating a methodology.

My first session interning at the lab during MARC went very well. I had the opportunity to observe and assist with inoculating a culture and filtering it for domoic acid analysis. My next step is to figure out what kind of plant growth chamber will be available at Marin Academy. Once I am aware of its timeline for availability and basic features, I can choose a variable to test. Once I have narrowed down the which variable will be most reasonable to test with the tools available, I can further specify my background research and begin writing a methodology.

Over the summer, I started an internship at the SF State Estuary and ocean science center. The lab I am working in is doing research very similar to what I am interested in, so it has been very helpful. I have been provided with some helpful reading materials on the basics of culturing algae, which I am working through currently. So far, interning at the lab has allowed me to learn new skills that I will use in the execution of my project.

After science symposium, I have a few new ideas for how to finalize my project. Because the culture at ambient temperature on a shaker table is doing so well, it may be possible to use cultures at ambient temperature to test light. The light meter should fit in the 1L flask. My next steps would be to determine how much the temperature in the lab room varies to determine if that would be an issue.

Over spring break I have been reading a few chapters from the textbook "Algal Culturing Techniques." I have read the sections Maribel recommended, and they have been helpful in learning more about the basics of culturing algae. As soon as class starts again next week, Maia and I (with Maribel's help) will be finally starting to grow algae for Maia's project! I am very excited to get started!

After going to visit the Cochlan lab on Monday and Friday, my and Maia's plans have changed a bit. Due to limited time, Bill thought it would be more feasible to research the effect of light on the growth of Pseudo-Nitzschia. The difficulty with this is creating a growing environment with controllable and measurable light. In order to do this, it may be necessary to grow the Pseudo-Nitzschia out of an incubator, as the light sensor can not fit inside the incubator. My and Maia's focus this week will be building a space to grow the algae. We received a lot of supplies from the lab, including lights, seawater, nutrients, culture tubes, and the culture of a common algae that is easy to grow. This will be a practice algae for us to use as we set up the incubator/growing environment. Because of this change to the variable we are studying, my science symposium project will also change. It is unlikely that I will have time to complete an entirely different experiment from Maia, so my science symposium poster will be something related to the process of growing algae in a lab.

On Monday Maia, Stori and I are going to meet with Bill Cochlan. He will hopefully be helping us set up the incubators for growing algae and getting the necessary materials. I have been reading articles Maia shared with me and doing some of my own research on the effect of salinity on Pseudo-nitzschia growth, but I still need to do more research. Some of the studies were carried out in areas where, due to tides, there was a very large change in salinity throughout the seasons. I need to do more research and decide on a range of salinity values to test in my science symposium project.

After brainstorming some goals for March this week, I realized I did not have a concrete plan for what exactly I would be working on for science symposium this spring. I talked with Maia and Stori and now have a much better idea. Maia will be testing the effect of temperature on the amount of Pseudo-Nitzschia growth, so for science symposium, I will begin looking into the effect of salinity on Pseudo-Nitzschia growth. This upcoming week I will begin researching salinities effect on algae.

Last week I checked in with Stori. She said that she had talked to Bill Cochlan (one of Maia's potential mentors) and he said he could help us get the algae culture set up. He can possibly provide algae culture, nutrients, etc. Stori said there was also the possibility of me doing an internship with Cochlan over the summer. This would be so helpful in doing my project, and I am hopeful that it works out!

I presented my mini-lesson on Monday, and I feel it went pretty well. Doing this assignment gave me the opportunity to teach others about what I research every day, and it was a good way to see just how much I have learned about Pseudo-Nitzschia and algae over these past few months. Upon reading Maia's methods section, I definitely learned a lot! Maia has found some really helpful articles and is a lot farther along in her specific design. Being able to talk with Maia about her project going forward is going to be very helpful in designing and executing my project!

I have finished my mini-lesson assignment, so I can now get back to focusing on my refining my experimental plan. Last week I checked in with Stori and she encouraged me to look into already existing CO2 measurement and control systems, like the ones used in aquariums, instead of trying to build a system myself. I am now focusing on learning more about these systems, their prices, and what is required to set one up. I checked in with Maia, and she has shared her methods document and a few useful articles with me (thanks Maia!), so my next step is to read through these to get a better idea of what she is doing, and how I can adapt her methods for my project.

A slight adjustment to the future plan stated in the January goal: I now hope to test my entire Pseudo-Nitzschia culturing system, not just the pH aspect, during science symposium to determine if I can keep algae alive and control all variables that will be necessary for my project. This will allow time to troubleshoot and to get started on data collection right away in the fall of 2019.

My goal for this month is to begin developing a more detailed methodology for my project. Building off my January goal, I will continue research on aquarium CO2 bubbler systems to learn about what is required to build one, or how to acquire one. I will need a tool that can measure pH and automatically adjust the CO2 flow to maintain a steady pH over time.

My goal this month is to complete further research to determine potential methods for controlling the pH of water in a container. I would like to have a list of possible methods I could use, and what materials are needed for each method. Determining how to control pH in the containers in which I will be growing algae is essential before I can move on with my project, and I plan to focus on testing potential methods this spring for Science Symposium.

After doing some research I have concluded that the best way to control the pH in water is with a CO2 bubbler system. Other potential methods include using acid to lower pH, but this is harder to control and the acid can corrode containers and be difficult to manage. CO2 bubbling involves injecting bubbles of CO2 through the water to lower the pH.