Renee; UR: Welcome to the 21st century kids!!

I may not be able to get my mitts on a flying car yet (darn you Back to the Future for lying to me!) but there are a lot of awesome bits of tech to make life as an undergraduate researcher easier! For examples lets consult some highlights from my materials list thus far:

BLU is headquartered in sunny Miami FL
and has proven to be a leader in affordable
no contract smartphones.

1) My shiny new Studio X cell phone from BLU (Bold Like Us) 

 This baby has some impressive specs (the details of which you nerds out there can check out at your leisure via the website linked above) considering it isn't carrier specific and cost me less than a smooth Benjamin ($100). 

For my IRP I will be using the GPS locator services to tag my sample locations for mapping purposes and future reference, taking picture with the 8 megapixel camera (a megapixel refers to the image size when a digital picture is taken) for documentation purposes and most fun of all the latest Collector App from ESRI will help me with data collection in the field and make future GIS analysis easier.

You may remember I mentioned this app previously in my introductory post and I am looking forward to becoming more familiar with it and all of its functions during this study.

Ohaus- starter water
analysis pen meter

2) Precision Beyond Balance ST Series Pen Meter by Ohaus which I will be using to measure redox reactions (an oxidation-reduction (redox) reaction is a type of chemical reaction that involves a transfer of electrons between two species) these reactions involve gaining or loosing electrons and it is this electron change which the device measures from my understanding. I'm still figuring this fancy redox thing out so if anyone has some helpful links please leave a comment and share the wealth of knowledge.

The rest of my materials list is less exciting but no less important as you can see below.

Materials

• Measuring tape
• 10, approximately 1-cup containers
• clean trowel
• plastic flags
• cloth for cleaning trowel between samples
• 2mm mesh slieve (per Ag Extension processing requirements)
• 10, wax free, 2.5x3 inch bottomed paper bags (per Ag Extension processing requirements)
• Sharpee Marker
• Soil Test UF Ag Extension paperwork

My process still has a few kinks to work out...

My biggest problem right now is going to be finding a place to air dry my soil samples as is required for the Ag Extension to test the samples and sifting the soil to meet the Ag Extensions testing requirements. I'm sure once I give Dr. Emmett and Dr. Woodall a poke we will be able to work it out. The sifting I'm not so confident about...

Next I need to fill out the first wave of Ag Extension paperwork and find out when they will accept my samples.

The next part is fairly easy: go into the field and take the samples!

Procedure: Root Zone Samples

1. determine reference pitcher plant specimen
2. document GPS location of sample and corresponding reference specimen with Collector App*
3. measure distance of no more than 6in from base of pitcher plant specimen's vegetation and mark with flag.
4. document the aforementioned distance
5. use trowel to collect approximately 1-cup of dirt making sure to stay within the top 5in of soil.
6. close sample container tightly and label container with specimen number and date. This data will also be added to Collector App*
7. thoroughly clean trowel
8. take redox measurement and enter in Collector App*

Procedure: Distance Samples (I'm still working on this title)

1. determine a reference pitcher plant specimen
2. measure a distance of at least 3 feet along ecotone (an ecotone is the transitional area between two major ecosystems, see the picture below for a good illustration of an ecotone; for my study the ecotone's exact location is not yet defined) from the reference specimen

   

   Here is a nice diagram I found on the Google to help explain
   where the ecotone  is.

3. document GPS location of sample, corresponding reference specimen and distance from reference specimen with Collector App*
4. use trowel to collect approximately 1-cup of soil, being sure to stay within the top 5in of soil
5. close sample container tightly and label container with specimen number and date. This data will also be added to Collector App*
6. thoroughly clean trowel
7. take redox measurement and enter in Collector App*

* Note: as this is a 'field test' of the Collector and relying purely on tech can end in disaster even in the 21st century any data recorded during my study will also be taken in good ole hard copy format in the lovely field journal we all have come to know and love. :)

Procedure: Post Sample Collection (a work in progress)

1. spread out samples in individual, contained and labeled areas to air dry
2. for each sample label a wax free, 2.5x3 inch bottomed paper bag (per Ag Extension processing requirements)
3. prepare any necessary shipping paperwork and container to ship samples in
4. once the samples are dry sift each sample individually using a 2mm mesh sieve
5. (I need to consult Dr. Emmett on what we should do if none of the samples will filter through such a small gauge sieve... o.0... Any process we may have to add would go here)
6. place samples in their corresponding, pre-labeled paper bags
7. pack bagged sample in order for shipping to UF Ag Extension
8. (I need to consult Dr. Woodall on if my samples will be shipped from Daytona State College or if I will be making a trip to the post office. My money (and hope) is that shipping will be from the college)

Just for fun: Dr. Woodall trying to explain to me how to
use the Hach DR/890 Colorimeter which measures turbidity
while I took 'photo-documentation' of our field
excursion last Friday.

Q&A

Q: Deb n' Paul (Dr. Woodall)

Ok so here is your correction. When citing an e.g., article within your 'article' it should be e.g., Wheeler, E., et al., 2010. the et al lets the reader know there are other authors and you should always include the date since Mr. Wheeler likely had publications from other dates. Also--thanks for giving those great definitions of terms I'm unfamiliar with! It really helps!

A: Yay!!! You do love me after all! lol

but seriously, thank you for the et al and date tip. I went and made a big note on my apa citation guide about it. Citation is my Achilles heel here and I need all of the help I can get.

I'm glad you appreciate the definitions. I get so used to using big technical words that I don't realize I've lost people most of the time. The exception being my mother cause she interrupts me mid-sentence to inform me she left her dictionary at home. She isn't very happy when I remind her Google is just a few taps away on her fancy shmancy Iphone. ;)