Geology is confusing.
After spending the last three weeks reading a plethora of papers that included everything from water with high concentrations of fluorite in India and its effects on human health to asbestos’s unending prominence in Russia, I have to admit that I know absolutely nothing about earth sciences. At least, not enough to design a research project that makes me go, “YASSS THIS IS AMAZING AND WILL BE A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TO THE FIELD THAT WILL MAKE EVERYONE FROM MY DOG TO MY 7TH GRADE BIOLOGY TEACHER PROUD.”
As someone who has spent the majority of her life believing that she would go into pre-med and become a pediatrician or a surgeon, I spent my afternoons obsessing over any vaguely health related articles that showed up on Yahoo’s homepage and eventually moved onto more reliable sources such as Scientific American and now, Science Magazine. I was primarily interested in nutrition, mental health, and advances in cancer medication. My desire to become a scientist grew exponentially as the volume of publications I read increased. Something about being incredibly knowledgeable in a particular field and using that knowledge to find out something that no one else has discovered before is extremely empowering.
So what does this have to do with geology and how is geology confusing? Geology isn’t confusing per se, but this makes excellent click bait so we’ll keep it there for now.
My point is that learning about a broad field and conducting research is incredibly difficult when you are devoid of strong background in a particular subject matter. Thus, it has been difficult finding links between geology and human health (which is a growing field) and I have come to realize that unlike mechanical engineering, you cannot control how much water and minerals a plant chooses to absorb.
Aside from research conundrums, I’m pleased to say that all of the scripts for the minerals collection have been completed. Next Wednesday, Frances and I will be meeting with Professor George Hilley in the sound studio. Professor Hilley will be narrating the scripts that I wrote, which is an unimaginable honor since his narration will be the audio of the self guided tour and this app will be used for generations to come. After we finish recording all of the scripts, we will begin editing the audio and inputting the audio into the database.
Of course, interns do have days in which we can relax and learn more about the world around us, rather than concentrating on one part of the world for our research. We visited Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University last Wednesday to learn more about the work done at field stations in Pacific Grove.
Scientists at Hopkins study everything from the development of marine invertebrates to nervous system evolution. Before we listened to lectures given by the professors and graduate students, we rushed to go tide pooling and discovered sea anenomes, sea stars, and even seals.
We visited a total of five labs including the Denny lab, which studies the intertidal zone of wave-swept shores and the Lowe lab, which studies the early evolution of deuterostomes and the origin of our own phylum, the chordates.
We also visited the outdoor lab, where many marine animals such as sea urchins, Asteroidea (sea stars), and sea cucumbers are housed.
This Wednesday, we went to the Arizona Cactus Garden for lunch, but migrated back to the Old Union after the long walk in the blistering heat. We also visited the mausoleum of Leland Stanford, Jane Stanford, and Leland Stanford Jr.
I can’t believe that there are only three weeks left of the internship; time really does fly when you’re having fun. Until next time…
