Brian's Blog
Blog Post #1
It has been two weeks since I started my first ever internship here at Stanford. I never really knew what Stanford looked like aside from pictures online and in my high school’s career center, but those pictures pale in comparison to the real appearance of Stanford. The campus is very vast and new, but it is not clunky and unnatural. Everywhere I walk, I can see a harmonious juxtaposition of each building with nature. There are trees everywhere that help produce a natural environment that does not feel too artificial. The Stanford campus combines natural constructs with man-made buildings very well.
I conduct research in Braun Hall here at Stanford. Together with my supervisor, Caitlin, we investigate foraminifera in the Santa Monica Basin. What surprises me the most about foraminifera is that they are unicellular organisms that, in the past, could grow up to 10 cm (4 in.) long. Today, most cells tend to be microscopic-our blood cells can only be seen through a microscopic-yet unicellular forams in the past were visible to the naked eye! There is much to learn about these wondrous creatures. Part of my research so far has been to collect data by finding out the number of chambers of forams at different sites along the Santa Monica Basin. Each site has a different oxygen level, ranging from low to anoxic, based on the level of dissolved oxygen in the water. I have investigated several species of forams, including Bolivina argentea, Loxostomum pseudobeyrichi, Bolivina spissa, and Uvigerina perigrina.
After analyzing the number of chambers of every species at each site, I input the data into a computer program called R which allows me to interpret these data whether through graphing or running statistics tests. As of now, I have been working hard writing programs into R to analyze the data I have collected. My next blog post will mention the trends I have found among forams with these data and what I have discovered through research. All in all, research is fun and the environment I work in is even more so.
Blog Post #2
Wow! I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since the last blog post. Time really flies when you’re working in a lab. Last time, I mentioned that I would analyze the trends. Now, I have inputted and catalogued all my data into R and the results are striking. All of the foraminifera I have studied so far demonstrate a downward trend in number of chambers when oxygen levels decrease from low to anoxic. Almost all of these forams also have smaller volumes as oxygen level decreases from low to anoxic except for Uvigerina peregrina. What this means is that the forams are somehow adapting to their environment by decreasing their chamber size and lowering their volume. Uvigerina peregrina, on the other hand, increases their chamber size while lowering their chamber numbers. I have learned that cell volume determines how much oxygen a cell needs so the fact that forams are decreasing their volumes in lower oxygen levels validates this idea of a size constraint caused by limits on vital resources such as oxygen. Although Uvigerina peregrina increases its volume when oxygen level decreases, this may be attributed to its surface area. One of the few ways an organism can meet its demand for oxygen is to increase its surface area and this may be the case for Uvigerina peregrina. The results from this experiment may also be attributed to the methods forams use to feed, breed, or interact in their environment. Certainly, a better explanation for these findings can be found with more research into the lives of these unicellular organisms. The findings from this experiment are intriguing. The program R truly delivers in its ability to analyze data. Perhaps its name comes from the results it gives. As for now, I am currently measuring proloculus sizes with my fellow researcher, Mariah, who is also working in our lab. These proloculus sizes may give us deeper insight into embryo sizes in foraminifera. Currently, I have still have much more data to collect on forams and perhaps, there will be enough data for a conclusion on my next blog. So for now, whoever is reading this, have a wonderful day(or night)!
