Entries in the Category "GEOL 390"
Question Time!
I finally got my question together with Professor Cullis and I am really excited to finally know what I will be doing. I have to say I am really happy about this project not only because it is interesting but because it will allow me to explore techniques that, despite previous experience in the lab, I have never undertaken before. So now I can start going through the 7 articles given to me...LOL that should be fun. I have already been thorough some, and so far everything I have read has been helpful.
Here is my question:
Many plant genomes have been sequenced recently, and this project will involve working towards sequencing parts of the flax seen genome by fractionating the total nuclear DNA (flax genome) in order to determine the organization of the genome and how the genes in the flax are related to genes in other plants. In essence, two questions will be asked and answered in this project:
1. What is the characterization of the interspersion pattern of flax DNA? Interspersion refers to how repeated and low copy number sequences are arranged relative to one another
2.Are there recognizable retrotransposable elements in the flax genome?
Getting used to It
This is my second week in the lab and I have spoken to Dr. Cullis about preparations for my final project. I am working this week on getting used to certain things in the lab, and looking toward possible questions I may want to answer. I figure I can continue to work on the project that he has be working on now. We are trying to map the DNA genome of Flax seed, working towards making genetic maps. Of course that is a very rough definition of what we are doing but until I know more, that will suffice :)
As of now we are looking at all the DNA samples he has collected and developed over time and running gels to determine how much DNA and RNA is present. He is working to getting a lot of what he worked on in the past published today because many other labs are working on flax seed genome and he wants to publish what he already discovered before it gets too hard to publish.
Hopefully I can be some help there.
A Head Start
I have started working in Dr. Cullis’ lab in Millis. Right now I am doing gel runs to determine the amount of DNA concentration in each sample. It is tedious lab work but it is necessary in order to determine what concentration is in the samples prepared previously before I entered the lab. I have done a couple gels so that is basically it. I know I will be able to start a final project soon, and work on it during the summer, that will allow me to catch up.
It is weird being in this position having to come up with my final project so early in the year, but this will allow me to get done quicker as well as let me work in the summer to lighten my load next year. Most biology majors I have spoken to haven’t even really considered their final projects. I guess Noha and I will be more than prepared now!Hopefully the project I undertake will be interesting and open for my interpretation.
Passion for Research
In class this week, one of our guest speakers was Dr. McCall, who talked about his work studying sediments and how biological organisms and their feces affect sediments in Lake Erie. What I really like about McCall’s research is how there was a mix of biology and geology, he studied an area where both come into play into the equation. Because his research involved biology I found it interesting and easier to understand.
I would love to mimic this in my own research. If not now, then definitely in the future. I have a passion for Biology yes, but I also find Sociology equally important with what I want to do with my future career. It would be nice to merge the two and find a way to study how group interactions can effect biology.
For the last sages class I took which was a class on studying Human Attention, I found a way to merge the subject of attention with my love for sociology. I wrote my final research paper on how Human attention is affected by an individual’s cultural background and upbringing. In this paper I talked about how individuals from Eastern countries focus attention very differently than those from Western countries. This is due to the fact that cultural morals and values differ based on a society’s standards. I was really happy to be able to put my love for sociology into my research of attention because it made me really invested in the topic and paper allowing me to do a really good paper.
I hope to merge my interest in Biology and Sociology in my future endeavors. I think the more you are interested in a subject the better you will do in working with it. It is really important that when doing research, you never limit yourself to whatever you can find, but that you work to find what interests you the most. I hope for my final project I can do just that. I would love to have a passion for what I am studying.
Senior Project Information
So I finally spoke to the Biology Authority on what I would need to do to complete my senior SAGES project in Biology. Dr. Drushel informed me of the different options for a final project. Luckily I had Noha with me to help me remember all the details.
The first option is to find a lab and work on a project independently were you can solve a problem, present it, and work on a poster or paper. This would fall under Biology 388 course.
The second option is to take a SAGES Keystone course that has the final project requirements built into the course.
The third option is for those who are in a research lab outside of school. To complete a project here, one must find a Biology faculty member to sponsor their project and have a lab boss at the place they are working to supervise a presentation and project.
The last option is an almost last resort where a student can do research on a certain area of study or topic and write a thirty page report or monogram on the topic. This option is completely independent and the student must meet periodically with their advisor as the project is completed to try and keep on a writing schedule.
So yeah picking one of these should be very interesting. I am leaning towards option one since I recently got into a lab...hopefully it all works out.
Oh and a random option would be doing my SAGES final project in Sociology, since it is my other major. According to Dr. Drushel, as a Biology major I can do a project in either one.
Lots to think about.
Reading Research Papers
Reading last week’s papers and even starting this week’s papers, I realized that as a biology major, I would have a bit of a problem understanding these geology based research articles. I did my best to understand the basic theories and hoped that I would understand more after we discussed it in class. In class Professor Hauck discussed ways to help us read research articles in areas that we are not familiar with, or that are hard to understand. He suggested that we start with the abstract and really understanding the figures. The abstract gives us a synopsis as to what the researcher is looking for or studying, how the experiment was conducted and the a brief description of the results. Although short the abstract is a good way to get a full grasp on the paper.
This got me thinking about other ways that can help in understanding what a research paper actually means. I found both this week and last week, that reading and truly understanding the introduction was really helpful. If you can get a firm grasp of the definitions, and background information that is less complicated then the methods, you can kind of get an idea about why they studied a particular thing and what they found. It seems to me that it is more important to understand the introduction, and conclusion rather than the methods. This approach was really helpful for me. I found it more beneficial to focus on the theory and what they wanted to find and what they did find versus the complicated methods they used in conducting research.
It is important to recognize your limitations when reading research articles. If the paper is on a topic or field you are not familiar with you have to realize what it is you want to gain from the paper. Ask yourself why am I reading this paper? You may come to realize that you want to gain a firm grasp of the theory, purpose and conclusion of the paper. Don’t get me wrong it is important to understand how the researcher collected data and conducted research, but at times you must realize that your limited knowledge does not allow for a complete understanding of the methods. I guess my point here is, don’t get all caught up in the fact that you don’t know how to derive a certain equation or that you don’ t really know what a Monte Carlo Simulation is, it is more important to get to why the researcher was interested in the topic, the benefits the findings could have, and the final conclusions discovered.
Oh and having an encyclopedia or internets source nearby is really helpful... :)
Geology, Science, and Legitimacy
My introduction to Geology started and was limited to a few small guide books on the rocks that I collected when I was 10 years old. Each book described different rocks , where they could be found, and how each was made. My vast rock collection sparked my initial interest into science, steering me away from my world of dolls. Since I blame Geology, or at least my rock collection for leading me to what would eventually be an interest and school career in Biology and Chemistry, It came as quite of a shock when I realized that the legitimacy of Geology as a science is something that can and is questioned. This week’s readings introduced the philosophy of Geology as well as addressing reasons as to why Geology needs to be defended as a legitimate field of scientific study.
In my Sociology classes, we have talked about how as sociologists, we will constantly need to defend sociology as a legitimate “science.” It is not like Biology and Chemistry where questions are answered with concrete answers based on experiments that can be retested and the same outcome will arise. Sociology is more open to interpretation, and the answers that come from social experiments are very much limited to the factors that make it up, such as a sample size. The nature of the experiments and the questions asked are subject to many variables and it is impossible to account for all.
I guess there will be debates all around on what makes a field an actual “science”. I think the important thing to remember is legitimacy. If what you are studying and the results found are credible, testable, and the conclusions legitimate, then it can be considered a science. What makes something legitimate is also open to interpretation. If it is safe to say that what is legitimate is something that is agreed upon by many educated in that specific field, and something that is of interest and important to many in that field of study, then such a subject that deals with the earth, and the solid matter that makes it up is important to many, and the discoveries make an impact, then Geology is a legitimate science. The same can be said for Sociology, the study of groups and how they shape the individual and society is something that is to a degree testable, a topic of interest for many in the field, and involves conclusions that benefit and make an impact. By this definition, many areas of study, can and are considered a “science”.