Aloha,
My partner Yash and I have been assigned a phenotyping project. Phenotypes are the physical characteristics of plants. One such characteristic is growth rate. The professors goal is to understand how plants growth rate changes based on environment. This is possible because Hawaii has a large range of climates from one side of the island to another.
My partner and I have been tasked with the collection of growth rate data in the field. There this a large foundation of photo analysis ground work already laid for this subject but applying this to the feild is more difficult. We must take consistent images every day to track growth wich can get difficult with the unpredictable environment of an open air feild. This week we have discussed the most efficient way to image the plants on the feild. This discussion was fuled by literature provided by the professor. So far we’ve developed three blueprint designs and are working out small details to create something that will be simple and efficient in the feild. We’ve also been practicing the manual collection of this data collection in a green house. Every day one of use will go to the green house and measure the length of the fourth leaf of each plant with a ruler.
Individually I’ve been practicing genotyping in the lab. Genotyping is the investigation on the genetic make up of the plants already within the feild. I’ve learned how to extract DNA and process it in a PCR reaction. I’ve also learned how to load the processed DNA into a gel and image to gel to make calls on the plant. Making a call on a plant is reporting that the plant has the mutation that the PCR was run for or that it doesn’t.
Simply being in the environment and absorbing the conversations of my colleagues is extremely educational. Every week we have”lab meeting” in which each member of the lab explains there week of work for the professor. Just this three hours has been so informative and I look forward to what I’ll learn in the upcoming weeks.
I’m working 9-5 all work days and have measuring in the green house for one out of my two days off. Accounting for all this I haven’t had anytime to explore the island yet. I’m hoping when I get my jet lag more under control I’ll have the energy to do some adventuring after work.
This image is if the green house and the corn my partner Yash and I have to measure.
Aloha,
Rachael Burson
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