Well, this could be my last blog for this project, or not! Although we have worked a lot on pushing to complete our research it was just not feasible to get all of our samples run before graduation, or the end of our Pursuit Grant time frame, so the work continues. So far I think the thing that has helped us the most was being able to have a lab that I could get into any time, if Emily had the same access to the Gas Chromatograph we probably would be done running all of our samples by this time, but I bet Dr. Brokaw doubts that.
Looking back I feel as if we probably could have found our “groove” earlier, but it is what it is….and what it is is this: a chance few undergrad students get. I feel very blessed to have gotten to work on this project. Dr. Brokaw took a chance on me, and later on Emily, letting a couple of Ag girls work on Biology research. Not only were Emily and I lucky to get to work on this project but we were fortunate to get a grant to help us complete the second year of our project. I loved getting a taste of field work in Oklahoma, and my time on this project has helped me to decide that I would like to go on to study ecology either in native plants or in aquatic systems.
Dr. Brokaw has helped Emily and I both grow as students, guiding us through our problems with his ever present “answer a question with a question” style that makes me crazy but also forces me to think- thanks Dr. B…..truly. We have also learned what it is like to get turned loose and expected to complete lab work in a given time frame, sometimes we met deadlines and sometimes we had to face the music and own up to the fact that we couldn’t get things done in time. Emily and I also got valuable experience presenting our research, which for me proved to be a nerve wracking experience.
So far our work has shown us what we expected to see as far as remaining hydrocarbons in the soil but our plant community composition data has only shown a weak correlation between the amount of remaining hydrocarbons and the plant communities found in those areas. We hope that when we have more samples the correlation will be a bit stronger. More samples- that means finishing the samples we have plus maybe continuing this work in the future, which I would love to see and be kept in the loop on.
I want to say “good luck” to whoever works on our project next, may the chromatograph be with you…I also want to say thanks to Dr. B, again, because who else would have put up with us, and a huge thank you to to the Pursuit Grant folks. Don’t think I forgot you Emily- you rock my socks- or if I’m not wearing socks…you rock my flip flops. I am so glad we get to work together for another month- congrats on graduating- we made it!