Post date: Jul 26, 2013 3:59:39 PM
So it's been another few weeks in this wonderful program of ours and the "mid program boredom" that usually smacks me upside the head during summer programs still hasn't hit me yet! That's probably because the lab and Stanford campus have so much to offer. (Especially in the way of food.) In any case, we'll be finishing up our baseline readings for spectrums and kinetic absorbance scans and such and will soon be analyzing chlorine fixation in arctic soils and seeing whether it happens at all, and if so, at what rate, and other such related questions. Seeing as though we're all still somewhat in the dark as to chlorine's role in soil and what compounds form from its presence, hopefully this will provide some answers!
That's enough from the lab though; this week, all the interns had the opportunity to visit the Cantor Art Museum and get a small tour and talk about how conservation of paintings works, and all while the Museum was ironically closed for a new coat of paint! Being inside an empty museum is so much nicer than having the hubbub of a billion tourists crowd your thoughts at say, the Metropolitan Art Museum. In addition, all of the general program interns got to see the San Andreas fault first hand and stand on top of the rupture responsible for 1906's great earthquake. It was less than astounding, but still fascinating to hear about how the faults create the Bay Area's topography. After that, we got to go to Cowell Beach on Half Moon Bay and spend some time in the surf, climbing rocks, and seeing how the rock layering demonstrated the presence of a prehistoric beach that was uplifted.
*Pictures are incoming.
In any case, I look forward to future "expeditions" and to continuing my research (as well as eating at all the restaurants on campus).