July 24, 2015- Challenges

Since I have already had previous training on how to prep the specimens, it has not been too challenging. However, it has been difficult to skin the specimen because the skin is very hard to remove. I am not sure why it is difficult.

It has been very challenging to edit videos because I have never done it before, and I have no training. I hope to learn more about editing and adding special effects to the videos. Additionally, I have learned more about different frames and ways to capture footage. I want my video skills to be better than they currently are.

Working with Amber has been great, and I have learned a lot about ecology and related fields. It is sad that our last meeting was earlier this week.

American Cities With DIrty Air

In this article I read about American cities with the dirtiest air. 44% percent of americans are living in areas that have particle pollution. Fortunately, compared to last years results, there has been an improvement, since last year 3% of the population moved out of the area. However, cities that have high level of particle pollution in the air have solid and liquid particles found in the air, breathing in this polluted air can lead to serious health issues. Due to the heat, short-term particle pollution is mainly an issue in the West, Los Angeles has the worst ozone pollution. Air pollutants are responsible for many health issues. For example, 3.7 million premature deaths worldwide, causing lung cancer, chronic obstructive lung disease, and heart disease. Also, low-income communities where most minorities live are mostly exposed to these harmful air pollutants. The main source of these air pollutants come from power plants, wild fires, factories and more. I found this article very interesting because it is involved with air quality and why is it important to us and why we should keep improving our air. Also what I found interesting was, people with lower income are more exposed to these pollutants.

http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2015/04/state-air

The 10 American Cities With the Dirtiest Air

Like the title says this article talked about the top 10 most polluted cities. Not surprisingly LA making the list at number 5. Over half of the cities being in California, 7 out of 10 to be exact. Air pollution is a huge problem over there. Most of the states on this list are actually located out west, according to the article cities on the East Coast are doing their best to improve the quality of air. Most areas were there is a problem are low income and mostly affect people of color/minorities. Unfortunately this is a huge problem because bad air quality causes millions of deaths all over the world and needs to be fixed as soon as possible. If each city does there best to make a change this can be stopped.

Read the article here: http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2015/04/state-air

Procedures for Vertebrate Zoology- Week 3

The first step we take is to thaw all the specimen that we are going to prepare from the freezer. It takes approximately 20-30 minutes depending on the specimen and size. Then we bleach the table, tray, and tools we use (scissors, scalpel, tweezers). The specimen are in bag so I take them out of that. We measure the specimen in millimeters from the snout to venter. We get tissue samples so we need to prepare a vial with a tissue number on it, and we get the number from the roll. Then we cut from the venter to the snout with scissors, and make cuts on the arms, legs, and tail for lizards, for snakes you cut cut straight up from the venter. Then, we remove the skin, preferably in one piece, and lay it flat on a clothe, and roll it up, and put it in a jar full of 70% of ethanol. We sex the specimen as well, and you have to check the anatomy to determine if it is a male or female. We also take the tissue sample. If the specimen is too small we can take a liver sample in place of the tissue sample. We keep the lizards tongue and eyes usually, and that is also preserved in ethanol. Once all the skin is removed we place the skeleton in a box lined with wax paper, and let it dry out under a fume hood for a few days. When the specimen is dry we put it in the "bug room" and the beetles eat the tissue and extra skin.

Introduction- Vertebrate Zoology (week 2)

Vertebrate zoology focused on Herpetology preparation for scientific research

The Yale Vertebrate Zoology lab houses the Herpetology department where graduate students, interns, and professors prepare reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and bird specimens for various collections. Researchers who prepare the specimens soak the skin, the eyes, and the tongue in ethanol. They also separately prepare the skeleton by drying the skeletal structure under a fume hood and then place the specimen in a beetles eat the excess tissue and skin off of the bones. Additionally, a tissue sample is collected and frozen to be studied later for scientific research.

To show others the behind-the-scenes work with collections museums, we have been constructing and creating videos covering lab safety, lab tours, field work where we go out and see how scientists study and collect specimens to prepare. We also are filming Herpetology specimen prep with reptiles, and Ornithology specimen prep with birds.

First Impressions-Internship Week 1

This is my second year as an intern in the Yale Peabody Museum Vertebrate Zoology Lab. Last year I had a very informative and inspiring summer so I wanted to experience it again because of my passion. Last year I did a lot of prep work with the specimen. This year we will still be doing some prep work, but we will also be producing videos about the specimen and why we prep. 

Additionally, I have been able to watch other people do prep work, which is helpful for me because I love seeing new methods and continue to learn more about prep work with other types of animals besides reptiles. In the lab people prep mammals, birds, fish, and reptiles. 

Although what I am doing this year is a little different than last, I still am very passionate about the lab, and I am still interested in learning more about why museums have collections and the types of research researchers are using the specimen for. 

So far, I have prepared about 10 specimen, which includes: turtles, snakes, and lizards. Since I already have experience it won't be hard to prepare the specimen. However, producing the videos will be new for me because I have never done it before. 

Putting the ‘Justice’ in GIS: Supporting Communities using EPA Citizen Science Tools

This article gave a basic understanding of what environmental justice is then went into how we can accomplish environmental justice using some science tools such as GIS Mapping tools. GIS stands for Geographic Information System,  they plan on using GIS as a screening and risk assessment device. This tool will allow people to input there zip codes and see a map of their area showing them all the environmental risks. This is really cool because many people are unaware of environmental issues that effect their towns. For example when I started my internship on Mercury, I had no idea that it could potentially be a problem in East Haven somewhere close to where I live. This article really made me think about communities where people might not even know about the environmental issues they face and how we could change that.