336

Yesterday marked day 336 of my journey into understanding microplastics pollution and day 336 of my research (not the number of nematodes in the sample pictured left: there were 1734). Although it has not been a year in terms of days, I have completed and processed samples from an entire year of sampling and research--almost 30 days early. Finishing this work early is a big step for me because I am now able to complete some analysis steps that I had to forego due to the vast amount of samples in the lab needing processing. This is also the first time in my research that I have finished the work from the previous sampling season before going out into the field to collect more samples. With the extra time that I have, I am able to count nematodes in the samples and create microscope slides, since I will need to identify nematode taxa soon. Next week I will talk about the crane game of nematode extractions, so stay tuned for that.

Finishing the sediment processing, microplastics extractions, microplastics cleanings, and microplastics counting, is a big step for me and helps to validate the sacrifices I've made in the past year for my research--giving up social events, field work when my family is trying to get together for a vacation, and going to the lab 4 days a week over the summer to make substantial progress on my research. I know that other PhD students have similar stories, and I can validate that it is challenging work, and most of the things we are doing are not Instagram-worthy, so it can be difficult to express to our friends and families what we are going through. I know it has been worth it for me, so far, as I have had a great time getting back into field work, exploring new aspects of science, and presenting information about marine pollution and conservation to different audiences. Of course, all of this with the support of my amazing advisor, Dr. Jeroen Ingels, who is always working on a cool new aspect of environmental assessment work and providing me with information about the different organizations and companies that are interested in his (and therefore, potentially my) work.

All of this work is slowing down, however, as in a few weeks I will take my preliminary examinations. A PhD student takes preliminary examinations part-way through their program to determine if the student can continue on in the program and advance to candidacy. My exams will take a few weeks because of scheduling, which means that I will not be in the lab and, therefore, not posting blogs during that time. Next week's post will be the last update until October 21, when I will return to complete regular weekly posts.

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