Post date: Aug 4, 2013 5:55:00 PM
As my time here in the Y2E2 lab dwindles, I am happy to say that I have finally been enlightened and have experienced the more fulfilled and satisfying aspect of science. Although the first few weeks were a bit rocky regarding depth (grinding plants, washing vials and foil balling weren’t exactly scientifically satisfying), these last weeks here have given me the opportunity to really appreciate the busy work I did and presented data that actually had value (I know right, who knew that grinding plants could actually lead to something!) Before I get into my overall thoughts on the the wrapping up of my entire experiment, let’s debrief what exactly my experiment was, the results and why they’re important and significant to real life issues.
The major focus during my experiment was whether legumes had an effect on rhizosphere carbon and nitrogen in comparison to cereals and bulk soil. More importantly, the idea of what legumes are capable of and how this could potentially reduce fertilizer output (a very appealing idea to modern day agriculture.) Legumes are nitrogen fixing plants and thus the hypothesis would naturally be that we would see a larger amount of nitrogen in the rhizosphere of legumes (but science just loves to surprise us, so we never know.) Carbon, however, was kind of iffy and I personally wasn’t too sure on what the results would be. We also focused on the impacts of these plants (cereals, fava bean, vetch) with different management types (organic, low-input conventional, unfertilized) to see if the plant effects on carbon and nitrogen changed across each management.
Let me tell you first hand, the feeling of looking at your results for the first time and seeing that the data actually makes sense with your hypotheses and isn’t totally whack is one of the most surprisingly comforting feelings one could have, and I’m not just saying that. All the grinding, shaking, foil balling, you name it, actually led to a purpose and the accurate results made the entire process cohesive and worth while. It was even weirder for me that this was really the last step, the moment I had been working towards, and it was over. I got a result with the work and did, and it actually made sense. Magic? It seemed a lot more practical now. Anyways, the results followed pretty closely with our hypotheses. The different management types didn’t affect the relationship among plants, but soil C and N were highest in organic and lowest in unfertilized plots. We found that N was significantly higher in legume rhizosphere (we definitely knew this one!) than cereal rhizosphere and bulk soils. Soil C was also higher in legumes vs. cereals and bulk soils, but the only significant difference was with the bulk soils. This ultimately resulted in lower C:N ratios in the rhizosphere of legumes, only vetch, however, had significantly lower soil C:N than cereals. The legumes ability to fix nitrogen probably accounted for the higher nitrogen content, whereas the higher C content could be due to higher microbial biomass in legume rhizosphere.
I couldn’t have asked for better results, and of course it was a pretty big weight taken off my shoulders considering I was the one doing all of the busy work in preparation for testing and if the results were drastically off, it was probably my fault (mad scientist Gabriel would have most definitely sacrificed me to the evil foil balling underworld.) Our results all led to one main idea: legumes are pretty awesome. But seriously, legumes have the capability to successfully increase nitrogen in soil while reducing C:N ratios, which could allow for lower fertilizer and benefits for following crops. This doesn’t seem huge, but in reality this could lead to very valuable and economic progressions in agriculture.
So what have I learned throughout this process beyond the value of science, more specifically agricultural science? Well, I’ve learned that things make sense. Even beyond science, most everything has a logical consequence. Going along with Newton’s third law of motion, every action has an equal but opposite reaction- if I put in so and so amount of work, I'll get an equal amount of pay and vise versa (I’m sure Newton didn’t really care about the metaphoric value of his scientific law, but let’s just go with it.) As complicated as science, math, life, whatever is, it gives me comfort to know that sometimes it’s simple and most everything is in your control. As hopeless and boring as work may be and although it’s tempting to lose focus and give up, the results will come and the pay will be there, and whether you appreciate it and look back on the experience as positive is completely up to you. And to be quite honest, the satisfaction for me was beyond just accurate results, but I got the feeling of accomplishment and that I did this and it has value, importance. Even if I got crazy, inaccurate results, I still don’t think this whole experiment would be a failure. As simple as the work/pay idea I’m talking about it is, the reward is really about how you view the experience and whether you learn to appreciate every step of the way looking back. And looking back, I’ve actually found myself appreciating the grinding, the foil balling, the lunch breaks, the latex gloves, the often late mornings, and all the then pointless crap that was an equally vital part of the overall experience and final, accurate result. And this enlightenment, the appreciation for such little things along the way is a greater reward than I could have asked for. It’s something that I’ll take with me in the future undoubtably, and something that I’ll dearly miss.