Monica Barrick, UR- Solar Spill or Oil Spill

I was recently able to talk to someone who went to a solar seminar, he gave me some get insight and I have a couple changes. I am going to change my 90 degree angle to 20 degrees. So now my solar panels will be at 0, 20 and 44 degrees. I made those changes because he believes the best angle for our latitude is between 20-25 degrees. I am excited to see my results and being able to conclude which angle is actually has the best solar performance. I also have a better understanding on energy and he recommended getting at least a 12V solar panel. I have ordered my solar panels and I also got poles to mount them on so they will not move if there is wind or rain. Once they arrive, I am going to make sure they work and give more information on them. There's really not much more then that so far but I have such a better understanding on how solar panel works in general.

They are always trying to improve solar panel and I found a really cool idea called  a solar flower.  This is such a great invention, The best part about it is that it is able to retract at anytime so if there is a storm your solar cells will not become damaged. Here is a Video on how they open up.

I hope to have much more information on my next blog, by then I will hopefully have my solar cells up and running!

Garth UR - Mother Nature is a Tough Mentor.

         The ground under a home in Shishmaref, Alaska collapses from erosion

Mother nature is a tough mentor. The more I read and research the more I begin to understand the extent of the damage places like Alaska are beginning to suffer. There is no shortage of reliable information available on climate change in Alaska.

I am still searching for a more narrowed focus of climate data, temperature and rainfall etc.. UndergroundWeather.com is an excellent source of current and past weather, temperature and precipitation, although the area is more general and less specific.

"Two pairs of aerial photographs of pond areas in Alaska. The two images on the left show the pond areas in 1951 and images on the right show the same pond areas in 2000. The pond areas shown on top shrunk from 180 to 10 acres, and the pond areas shown in the bottom went from 90 to 4 acres in size."

My research has so far led me on a general overview of what the situation is and how the effects of climate change are a bit worse than I personally had known. In Alaska, the average temperature has increased approximately 3˚F in the summer and 6˚F in the winter, according to the USGCRP (United States Global Chang Research Program). This is nothing to sneeze at. Permafrost is thawing, lakes are drying, shoreline is eroding and ecosystems are shifting. As permafrost thaws the drainage of water increases through soil and as temperatures increase so does evaporation. To every action there is a reaction.

Another unexpected asset to my project has also been OCE1001 Introduction to Oceanography. We are learning the weather cycle and how climate change is a cyclical, cause and effect cycle. Understanding the general principles of weather patterns, ocean and global temperatures, wind and ocean currents allowing me a greater insight into this topic. Carbon dioxide, CFC’s and methane are catching in our atmosphere more quickly than our planet can dissipate them and in this warming blue marble, the science is clear. Unfortunately, the mindset of man is not. Tracking the damage and finding a solution lay yet in the mist.

Citation:
 USGCRP (2009). Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States
"Climate Impacts in Alaska." Https://www.epa.gov/climate-impacts/climate-impacts-alaska. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2017.           

Stephanie Guyotte, UR- A New Direction

Hello everyone,


Skate egg found by Dr. Woodall last year

I have decided to take my project in a new direction and focus on the collection and identification of skate eggs that have washed up on shore. A possible topic I am thinking about is mapping the location of eggs and then trying to catch that species of skate to see if the skate lay its eggs in the same habitat in which it lives, or do skates find a safer place to lay eggs, or do skates lay their eggs wherever they happen to be . A problem with this is the location of eggs that have washed upon shore is probably no where near where they were laid, so maybe I can determine how long they have been where they are, then look at the tides and try and track the eggs backward getting a rough idea as to where it came from, then fish there.


Possible ID of egg found by Dr. Woodall. This is a Clearnose
 skate (Raja eglanteria)

This is a very rough idea more research will be needed to see if this is feasible. I am currently looking at skates found in Florida and their  reproduction patterns, egg morphology, habitat and biology but am not comfortable posting anything just yet so I will more than likely make an extra post this weekend with some basic information on the specific specie(s) of skates I will be researching.
 Hopefully we will catch some skates this Friday at our shark ID lab to give me a good idea if this could work of not! 

Picture provided by; Florida Museum of Natural History
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/index.php?cID=2110
    



Alex, UR- Shark Bait whohahaaa

Hello all,

What a great class on Friday! I definitely learned a ton and I really enjoyed it as well. We started out class with a guest speaker that came in to talk about sharks (my favorite)!! She had a ton of information on the hammerhead shark which was so interesting because I believe that not too many people know a whole lot about that species. I also really enjoyed how enthusiastic she was about everything she talked about, you can tell that she is in the right field. One thing that she said that I found to be very interesting was that hammerheads would use their hammers to hit their prey and how they quickly they can move in the water.

For the second part of class, we grabbed our water samples we had collected and we started doing some lab work. I learned how to use multiple new instruments such as, the Hach 2100N Turbidimetr, an Ohaus Balance Scale, a Fisher Science Oven, a Fisher Scientific Maxima Dry Vacuum Pump, and a Whitman Glass Microfiber Filter. We each went to each station and wrote down our data. All tools were calibrated before use.

The Graph below shows all of the classes data from their water samples and it shows a positive correlation between Turbidity and TSS. I thought a scatter plot was most appropriate for the data.

I'm super excited for Fridays class at Ponce Inlet and look forward to learning a lot more about sharks.

Steve Cofone, UR - Will be casting a line soon!

               Well were off to a good start, I have uncovered some great information and past research that has been done, Anthropogenic debris in seafood , this let me know that KOH 10% is the best compromise for extraction and identification of microplastics.
I have also been directed to this website , this is a free site of scientific reports, a great free source of information. I am finding that a lot of these papers I am trying to view I will have to pay for. But as I keep searching I am finding ways around that.
                    Another excellent report I found is Microplastics in seafood , which outlines some protocols for the research I am doing. I found this to be an excellent source and a great form of guidance for me.

Fishing gear is primed and ready to go!

I'm still looking for more research and scientific pubs, but so far this is a great start.

The next thing I am working on is getting my gear together and ready as well as a game plan and a GIS (geographical information systems) map of the spots I will be fishing at. I will be posting that as soon as it is complete.
 As Dr Woodall has reminded me, I need to remove any bias from my selection, so in order to do that I am going to put 8 spots that I have fished and been successful in a hat, I will randomly select 4 spots from the 8 and fish those spots in order to get catch to analyze.

Lyle UR We struck plastic...Again

Being a good parent teaching its calf to hunt for fish 

Hey guys, well i was in the lab again yesterday and got more exciting news. As you recall from the last time that I was in the lab I found SEVEN micro fibers in the oyster. I kinda tweaked the way that I am doing my searches for micro fibers. On my first day I didn't weigh the oyster prior to dissection and now I am getting a weight prior to dissection that way I can get a formula  of micro fibers to size ratio. Now on to the exciting news, I started looking at the samples i got at site two which was closer to Ponce Inlet and I found TWELVE micro fibers in this sample. The oyster prior to sampling was 4g so that works out to three micro fibers per gram in that oyster. Unfortunately I didn't get the weight of the first oyster so I can give you the ratio on that one but I promise that on the rest of the oysters I will get the weight prior to it going under the microscope. I am really excited to getting these results because it seems like our methods are working great.
Some of the things I am doing to prevent contamination of the samples from other micro fibers is, wearing the proper personal protective equipment, like an apron that way my clothes don't get fibers in the sample. I am wearing latex gloves whenever I touch the sample, even though I wash my hands there still may be micro fibers left on my hands. I am wearing only cotton shirts when I am in the lab that way there is no synthetic fibers that can come off of me.
Like I said before, I am really excited about the finds we are getting and will be updating you guys as soon as I get some new information. Until then recycle your plastics and enjoy our beautiful paradise.

Site 2 oyster bed

Christian Vinciquerra UR, ShAHHHks

Class conducting TSS vs Turbidity lab

      Last class February 24th, our class was given a presentation about sharks from a guest speaker who I am unable to identify. She talked to us about shark biology, physiology, and showed copious amounts of data from recent projects she's been a part of. To start the Hammerhead sharks are part of the Sphyrnidae family. She went on about how the classifications worked for all types of Hammerheads. Along with interesting facts, like how their eyes are on the ends of their elongated head, you would think a Hammerheads' vision would very extremely limited as if they're looking out to the side instead of forwards. Hammerheads actually have nearly 360º vision. They're also the most flexible shark, being able to turn on a dime. If it wanted to, Hammerheads could bite their own tail. The speaker talked to us about the research scientists have done about Hammerheads and she found that their Ampullae of Lorenzini senses the size of a creature due to the amount of electricity it gives off. If it's too big of ac harge then the shark will swim away, if it's too small the shark won't pick it up, but if it's just right then the Hammerhead will attack it. Hammerheads also swim in an 'S' shape. She thinks they do this to cover more ground while hunting. She told us about a researcher who studied their eyes and found that their eyes capture more light in the top right of their retina. Since this part of the eye picks up the most light it means the sharks eye is actually facing down toward the ocean floor. I would of never thought that these sharks would be so interesting. Right when she started her presentation I was hooked, figuratively.

TSS vs Turbidity

          So for the rest of class, we were supposed to bring a water sample in to run tests on its turbidity and total suspended solids so we can compare. The samples were taken from all over Volusia and Flagler counties from different types of water sources. So we measured out salinity first with a refractometer. Next measured turbidity with a Hach 2100n turbidimeter measured in NTU. We measured our sample five times then dropped the highest and lowest reading and took an average of the three remaining. Next we measured out total suspended solids by weighing our Whatman glass microfiber filter on a Ohause Balance with the windows shut. Next took the filter and placed it on a filtering flask and clamped a funnel on top of the filter so anything we filter through goes through the filter paper. Next we attached a Fisher scientific maximadry vacuum to apply suction. We measured our sample in a graduated cylinder and measured how much we will pour. Then poured the sample through followed by a distilled water rinse to wash away any salt water that might have been caught in the filter. Finally, we placed our filter in our tray and placed it in a Fish scientific isotemp oven at 105º C. The graph I have here is showing the results from our lab. It reads that there is not a relationship between turbidity and total suspended solids with an R^2 value of 0.68045. A majority of the points do not follow the trendline. There is one point that could be counted as an outlier, measuring 57.23 mg/L and 27.00 NTU.
 

Casie UR- Maps, A Girls Best Friend

USGS Map of known Water Hyacinth locations in FL

This week I have been playing around with maps and the numerous locations of the Water Hyacinth. I began with a basic google maps search to locate rivers and lakes in my local area. While we have several rivers that span from Daytona Beach down, most of them are brackish and contain a certain amount of salt. This would not be a good place to test becasue Water Hyacinth only thrive in fresh water and any amount of salt can kill them. So I started looking inland, with the help of an interactive map from the USGS (United Sates Geological Survey) that shows all known locations of the weed I was able to narrow down the specific places I will be going to collect water samples.

The Expedition

I will test 6 sites, 3 will have the weed and 3 will not.
These 3 sites will contain the weed.
1) St. Johns River
2) Lake Monroe
3) Lake Ashby
These 3 sites will not
1) Dupont Lake
2) Konomac Lake
3) Muck Lake

USGS known Water Hyacinth locations in the US

I will be testing for the Turbidity, TSS and any
amount of Copper in the body of water. I will document the size of the lake/river, other plants in the vicinity and the amount of Water Hyacinths in the area.
The purpose of this test will be to see if there is a relationship between the growth of the weed and the amount of copper in the water, if any.








Citation
"Nonindigenous Aquatic Species." Nonindigenous Aquatic Species. USGS, n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2017.

Dylan Radford UR, Sharks! ...and dirty water

Hello everyone! Our last class session was very informative and I learned a lot of new material. First we had a speaker come in and talk to us about shark behavior, anatomy, and the tests that the run with these animals. Sharks are awesome so I was pretty hooked from the start but as she got deeper into her lecture I saw that there was a lot more to sharks than I thought. She mainly spoke about the hammer head sharks. I learned that they are the smartest out of all the sharks and they are the most maneuverable. The speaker also talked about their vision. You wouldn't think that hammerhead sharks would be able to see very well because their eyes are located on the sides of their elongated heads. Well I learned that that isn't the case, Hammerhead sharks can see in nearly 360 degrees horizontally and vertically. I am pretty excited that we are going to fish for sharks next week so we can do our measurements and be the first class to conduct an experiment like this. I just hope we catch some sharks!

My Scatter Plot

     The next portion of the lab was not my favorite if you want me to be honest. I enjoyed the procedure of getting my sample and using all of the different equipment that I had never used before but when I put my information in and saw the results I was disappointed because I predicted that there would be a correlation with TSS and Turbidity. It is kind of common sense to me, if you have more suspended solids in your water for example, sand, your turbidity will be higher than someone with less suspended solids in their water. I enjoyed making the graph because scatter plots are awesome when you need to compare multiple different samples. From my graph I was able to tell that there was a positive correlation between the total amount of suspended solids and turbidity. As the TSS increases so does the Turbidity, like I said before. However, I remember having a few errors when doing the experiment. First I didn't transport my sample to DSC in an ice pack to keep it cool. The next error was when I was using the dry vacuum pump and oven, I may have not transported my sample from the vacuum station to the iso-temp oven fast enough. All in all, class was still way more enjoyable than any lecture class and I cant wait for Friday so we can conduct our next experiment in the field!

Pam, UR - Taming the source of errors.

In the quest for repeatable scientific data, and the complexity of field work, I've learned the there is a 'happy place' called 'source of errors'. Yes, the best of efforts in the field are sometimes a best case scenario.

Our little piece of diatom heaven. 

With that in mind, when sampling for diatoms from a moving boat I've decided to go with testing within a given 'distance' as opposed to length of time factor. The areas to be tested are not comparable sizes. Also, there is the boat speed variable. If specific distance is in the method, it can be repeated easily and speed will not be a factor.

For my scientific question I would pose: Will there be any variation in the diatoms seen in a brackish environment as opposed to a more saline environment within a given area range?

Among my materials will be the plankton net in a cone shape with a cup at the end to hold the sample water. Also included will be the length of rope attached to the cone, boat, and necessary lab equipment to analyze the sample water.

I had thought it would be an absolute to find diatoms, but possibly not so. If not, I will analyze any zooplankton or phytoplankton I find.

Amber Hanick, UR- Seining, Identifying, and Calculating!

Site 2-Ponce Inlet

Site 1-Mangrove Cove

Class on 2/17 was full of new experience, excitement, and marked the first day out in the field thus far. The Friday before, Chad Macfie from the Marine Science Center visited us in the DSC Lab and briefed us on fish seining and identification using dichotomous keys. Upon arrival at the Marine Science Center in Ponce Inlet the next Friday, Chad immediately gathered the class and we began to venture off towards the Mangrove Cove and Ponce Inlet. The first site, the Mangrove Cove, is a small partially enclosed cove with mangroves partially surrounding the area. Before we began to seine, we first took into account and observed our surrounding environmental parameters like salinity, pH, and dissolved oxygen. Environmental conditions at the site were sunny, a fair wind, with a water temperature of 19.6 degrees Celsius. We also noted that the low tide that morning was at 7:10 a.m. so at our time of research the tide was flooding. The movement of the seine net consisted of a rectangle as we brought the net away from the shoreline and then transferred into a quarter circle as we brought the net full of collected specimens back towards the shoreline. For the Mangrove Cove site, the width of the seine net was

Site 1 Catch

22.22 meters, while the length of the net was 12.46 meters. We began our seine at 9:50 a.m. and ended at 9:57 a.m. with an elapsed time of effort of 7.06 minutes. This site was a rather low energy site, however, after we pulled in the seine we ended up with 7 different species including Atlantic Croaker, Mullet, Mojarro, Atlantic Silverside, Striped Killifish, Mummi Chug, and Sharptail Goby. Our total catch was 1,419 with the most common species being the Atlantic Croaker with a total of 1,085 individuals caught. Site 2 was the Ponce Inlet location where there was a high energy environment, a water temperature of 20.3 degrees Celsius, and many sources of error. As we arrived to the site we noticed a hole in the seine net, fishermen, passing boats, and strong currents making this site a difficult pull area. Our width of the net pull was 16.42 meters and our length was 15.2 meters. The current definitely made this pull rough with almost every member of the class pitching in effort to manage the shoreline side of the net as Chad and Lyle pulled the net offshore. As they were just rounding the turn and pulling the seine in a boat raced by creating large wake which rattled our net and most likely allowed for specimens to escape under and over the net area. This pull only netted 21 mullet which was disappointing to say the least, on the bright side, it showed us just what environmental conditions and human interaction with an area can do and how every source of error may not be within your control. I learned a lot from this experience and it definitely opened my eyes to how challenging this field of study can get. I chose to do my graph on the Atlantic Croaker catch over the dates of study at the Mangrove Cove. I chose a line graph to represent the data due to the data being shown over time. As shown it can be concluded from the graph that the beginning of

the year is the best time to collect Atlantic Croaker due to their abundance on seine dates 4/10/2015 with a catch of 1,563 and on 2/17/2017 with a catch of 1,085. The first day in the field makes me crave more and I can't wait to experience the rest of field studying in this class!

Stephanie Guyotte, UR- Let the Dinoflagellate hunt begin

My methods are simple in theory but things are always easier said than done. I plan on sampling as far down on the eastern coast as i can, exact locations are still to be determined. The locations I will be choosing are going to have mangroves, algae and other vegetation present and coral offshore would be most favorable as this is the best habitat in which to find Gambierdiscus.

Example of ideal testing location (redwood mangroves)

To collect my specimen a bit on luck would have some algae floating by that I could just scoop up in a 50-100mL glass collection jar, but more likely a little light scraping of algae that is growing on a mangrove or other vegetation will do. At site location if possible; I would like to take salinity, pH, temp, and DO readings (all information will be recorded in my Rite in the Rain All-Weather Environmental Field Book No 55oF). After collecting the specimens, samples should be stored in a cool container but for no more than 24 hours to prevent decay. To view the specimens within the samples a wet mount, whole mount (w.m.) slide must be prepared (slide preparation methods found in Exploring Biology in the Laboratory). A slowing solution such as methyl cellulose may need to be added to slide if specimens are too lively, but no dye or stain is needed. Some trial and error will take place in the best way to prepare the solution on the slide.

Compound Microscope

Some methods call for putting the algae through a fine mess first then prepare slide, while other methods just prepare with algae and all. To view the slides a compound microscope with up to 100x objective will do just fine. Here is where things will get really fun; identification! In order to identify Gambierdiscus I will use a combination of an ebook from the Daytona State Library Identifying Marine Diatoms and Dinoflagellates, and other pictures. These sources of information will allow me to find distinct characteristics like plate structure and other morphological features that are used in indentation of Gambierdiscus.

 My scientific question is simply just to see if Gambierdiscus is present in our waters which it should not be, this is why I also want to try and get samples from further down south where the water is warmer and odds are greater to find Gambierdiscus.                  





Kelly-Ann, UR - Going Against The Flow

Sample Locations

     After researching several ways to test for nitrate in water, I have decided that using a nitrate selective probe will give me a level of accuracy acceptable for this project.  I will be testing water at three different locations on the St. Johns River: Ed Stone Park, Lake George, and Lake Monroe.  These sites are noted with red dots on the Sample Location map.  I had considered switching to the Tomoka River due to its manageable size for this project, however, I was unable to find the extensive historical data for the Tomoka River that is publicly available
for the St. Johns River.
     The materials I will need for this project include:

• nitrate selective probe
• calibration liquids
• 3 opaque sample containers
• small cooler with ice packs
• gloves
• 550F field notebook

    My method may change depending on the specific instructions for the probe that is available to me.  My experimental procedure tentatively is as follows:

1. Begin at Lake George
2. Record conditions
3. Wearing gloves, dip the sample container and fill halfway
4. Close sample container and shake
5. Dump the water in the container away and downstream of the sample site
6. Fill sample bottle most of the way
7. Label the bottle and keep chilled
8. Record any possible errors and other notes
9. Repeat steps 2-8 at Ed Stone Park and Lake Monroe, in that order
10. Refrigerate samples until ready to process
11. Calibrate the probe with high and low standard solutions
12. Clean probe with distilled water and blot dry
13. Place the tip of the probe into the water sample and stir gently
14. Hold the probe still and wait until meter reading remains stable
15. Record data/any possible errors and repeat steps 12-15 with the remaining two samples

Weather permitting, I would like to do this procedure twice, once after the area has received rain, and once after it has been dry for at least a week.

Bibliography
Lagnado, J. (2000). Testing water quality.  Retrieved February 22, 2017, from http://www.scienceteacherprogram.org/envsci/Lagnado02/html

Garth UR - Unicorns or climate change, to bad they are both related....hmmmm?

Once upon a time our climates were more stable. The problem is global climate is proving to not be so stable any longer. Things are simply changing little bit, by little bit. As time goes on the world around us adapts, people adapt, clothing departments and merchandising stores adapt, animals and vegetation adapt. Although, you must wonder just exactly where, when and how adaptation may not represent such a feasible option.  When does mother nature say no and mankind has no other option but to bow?  

One question I would like to address is exactly how much are things changing. Our President and many others believe global warming is a mythical Unicorn, unseen, unknown and unanswered. So unfortunately, unlikely to be adequately addressed. No one wants to take the blame, how could one organization, individual or continent, possibly be responsible for the warming of an entire planet. To be honest I don’t believe there is or that pointing a finger will help bring whatever change may be needed.

Most of my research will require the compilation of historic climate research and the compilation of data, graphing, compiling and simply making sense of it all. I will pick between 1 and 4 locations and chart temperature and rainfall in these areas. The limitations I may have will be based on what resources I manage to gather. I would prefer to track at least 50 years of average temperatures and rainfall, as these factors are extremely important to wildlife, ecosystems and many other factors. Ranging from our personal wellbeing to the world which feeds, surrounds and humbles us. The website Weather underground has proven to be a good online resource although the data is limited until around 1980’s. I will also be making phone calls to national forests and state parks for potentially more accurate and specific research and data.

After compiling this data, I would like to show the facts, not point any fingers because what I believe is the most important is that people know them. I want people to know what this means for them and the environment which clothes, houses and feeds us. I will gather information and articles on current and past issues regarding this topic. Through this I will begin to compile a cohesive set of data to build an undeniable resume of blatant facts to lead us all to whatever destination the data may take us.

                                        

Christian Vinciquerra UR, Lots of Energy from the Class and the Jetty

Mangrove Cove- Low Energy Zone

      Greeting, Friday the 17th was a great first day in the field besides the fact if was a little chilly, however, the day turned out to be beautiful. We met up with Chad from the previous week and headed to the first seining site. Mangrove Cove, is what our class is calling it, was a great low energy zone with a mangrove and beach shoreline. Chad led the whole class and jumped right into it with no hesitation. He briefed us quickly on what to anticipate. We unrolled the net and started measuring out the distances.  While we measured, Dr. Woodall and another student took measurements of the water parameters such as temp, salinity, pH, and dissolved oxygen.

Ponce Inlet-High Energy Zone

       Chad wore a wetsuit and walked the net into the water 73' while a student held the shoreline end. Together they walked 41' along the shore, stopped and began to do a quarter turn back onto the beach.  The overall elapsed time from start of the seine to finish was 7.06 minutes. Chad, in a blind of an eye pointed out a few species with code names and we began counting all together while some people tallied. Seven species and a total of 1,384 fish were caught. After counting, we used the dichotomous keys to identify the species of fish from their characteristics. We released all the fish then moved to site two which was a high energy zone on the jetty with no cover and all open shoreline. This time it was hard to hold the net and keeping the weights on the ground. Waves were crashing on the net, pushing and pulling it back an forth might have skewed our data there. Chad was 54' into the water and walked 50' along the shore before the turn, for a total elapsed time of 3.42 minutes. Only catching 21 of one species was a bummer, however, it really shows how species of fish really don't care for high energy zones compared to low energy zones.
      After all the data collection was completed, we added it to the data taken from the same locations

Graph of Mojorra caught in same location
over recent years.

from recent years. After looking over the data I noticed only one species of fish was caught every time this course seined at Mangrove Cove. Mojorra six out of six times here. As you can see from 2013 to April 2015 there was very few caught of ten or less. From October 2015 to February 2017 there has been over 65 caught each time. According is the graph, the population here had a massive increase. Unfortunately this isn't the case. All the times seined here were different, with different parameters and tides. If all the conditions were the same then we can possibly take an accurate estimate of the this species population in the area.
     I really enjoyed this field lab and gained some knowledge from it. I learned that a Mummichug uses its pelvic fins to basically walk on the ocean shore and the eyes are placed on the top of its head just like a Flounder to see the prey above. I also learned how to calculate Shannon Weiner Index as well as calculate the CPUE and CPUA. I also found there is a lot that may go wrong and give errors in your data collection. I believe it's best to not fight the errors rather than embrace them.

Carly, UR - Ping, ping, ping!

Hey guys, how's it going?  We had a super fun lab this past week out in the field for the first time this semester that left me inspired to get to work!  I've been bouncing around ideas all week on methods for my independent research project (IRP).

First thing I did this week was figure out what kind of shark species I'd like to record and which ones.  I'm going to start out with 20 sharks, all from 4 different species and modify as needed.  

With this next part, best way I can explain my thoughts are through pictures (hence my artist background).

Current SST

Let's start with Cisco, who pinged earlier today at 6:33pm from the Ocearch website and then a screenshot from Windytv website (with the sea surface temperature(SST) overlay).  From there I took both images into my favorite program, Photoshop.  I overlayed both, cut out the blue that Ocearch had for the ocean and wa-la! you can now see the SST where this guy pinged.   I did this for both the SST an hour after Cisco pinged (22 C) and the current average for February(18 C).

Average SST

I came about doing this because on 
Windytv I can search a latitude and longitude, but when a shark
pings on Ocearch, there is no given latitude or longitude.
I did message Ocearch to find out if there was any way to get that information and they responded "Currently there is no way to get longitude and latitude on the Shark Tracker."

My current method I plan on is recording the current SST if available along with the average SST of each of these shark's pings.  A source of error will definitely be my estimation for the area, which is why I believe the average might bring me closer results overall, but we shall see as I start collecting data.

I'll be checking in with my sharks a couple times a week and see where it leads and see if I need to check more or less often.


I will leave you all with fun bit about Ocearch, their twitter accounts.  Some of the sharks have parody accounts and will tweet when they ping, fun facts, encouraging messages, along with tweeting at each other.

Cisco tweeted while I was writing this!

Fins and Grins -;()
Carly 

Monica Barrick, UR- Feel the Power

My scientific question remains the same as I research more on my topic. I will be observing the correlation between the angle of solar panels and how it effects the power output. I will have three solar panels, all at different angles. There are many websites to find out at what angle the solar panel should be for best performance. I will testing the "best" angle and two others. It is very simple to find the "best" angle. For winter, add 15 degrees (summer you would subtract 15) to your latitude (my latitude is approximately 29 degrees) so 29+15=44. One of my angles will be 44 degrees. The other two I have chosen randomly. The second solar panel will be at 90 degrees and the third one will be at 0 degrees. I put a picture a protractor to show my angles. 

Angle of solar panel 1- 44 degrees
Angle of solar panel 2- 90 degrees
Angle of solar panel 3- 0 degrees

I am still trying to learn how to measure the solar cell power output, but I have narrowed it down to these materials/simple method that will be modified.

MATERIALS

Multimeter 

• 3 solar panels (there are many different ones, will specify when I get there)
• Something to prop up the panels
• Protractor (to angle solar panels at correct angle)
• Negative and positive wires (for each separate solar panel)
• Multimeter (measures amps/volts)
• Feild notebook-550F/Pencil

METHODS

The first thing I will do is to test my solar panels to make sure the are in working order.

After the test is complete, which is just making sure the amps/volts get to a certain number (depending on panel) I pick the best place to set them up at in my backyard. I do not want any shadows that could mess up my data. I will use my protractor to put them at the correct angles. Now I believe it is as simple as putting the multimeter to the wires accordingly (positive to positive, negative to negative), measuring the the amps and the volts in order to get the watts. 

(Volts X Amps =Watts)

Example of how I will log my data

The tricky part will be figuring out what time I can be testing the performance. (I want to keep it at the same time but my schedule might not allow me to) So I may just take the average of each week and get my numbers that way. Can't wait to get this project started!

Casie UR- Down and Dirty for Science

Over the weekend, I went on an expedition to locate the invasive plant known as Eichornia crassipes or more commonly known as the Water Hyacinth. I drove to Blue Springs State Park where the Water Hyacinth grows rapidly.  I was expecting to see hugs swaths of the plant in the St. Johns Rivers but there were none visible. I obviously thought my eyes were deceiving me because several park rangers told me where I could find them. I located the plant specialist that the park employs and he gave me a more specific direction to hunt in. After rolling up my pants and putting on my water socks I trudged into the muck, being very wary of alligators. After several episodes of being sucked in knee deep by the muck I finally came upon the Hyacinth.  They were hidden in clusters of plants known as Spatter Dot and Penny Wort. This was curious as I was informed that I would see an abundant amount of the Hyacinth, but because the temperature of the river is not as warm as it would be in the summer the plant does not grown as abundantly.

After doing some research and going on my own personal exploration I believe I have narrowed my focus and my Scientific Question.

I have learned over the last several weeks that this weed has an affinity for Heavy Metals, it is a natural filtration system and can be used to filter out heavy metals and dyes. I have also learned that this weed will out compete other indigenous plants, choke out the water ways and can cause oxygen depletion.

My new scientific question is this, “Do the water Hyacinths grow more abundantly in areas where there is higher heavy metal concentration?”

 Methods and Materials: 

My plain of action is to concentrate on two areas where there is a higher population of the Water Hyacinth and one area where there is little to none. I will then preform water quality tests to test for high concentrations of copper in the specific area that I choose. I am curious to see if there is a correlation.