The Trip is Over, But the Journey Has Just Begun

Jill and Bayley with some
of our lab luggage

A successful final field day
in the Hengill watershed

We’re now back in Minnesota, with fond memories of Iceland a part of us and lots of data processing ahead of us. We have accomplished so much over the summer and now comes the work of processing samples and working to synthesize the findings from our field research efforts. We will present our research findings in the coming year, both on campus, and at national scientific conferences. It will be great to show our fellow Katies how much potential they too have for accomplishing significant scientific research, even in a short period of time.  I am personally excited to be able to share my experience with others and I can't wait take this project to the next stage and broaden my skills further as I prepare for a conference presentation.

Delor getting ready for a field incubation, adding gas to
the syringe...

           We have already discussed several upcoming conferences that would be appropriate venues in which to share our research results including the American Society for Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO), as well as the Society for Freshwater Science (SFS), which will meet next spring.  Both conferences will attract aquatic ecologists from around the globe.  The Ecological Society of America (ESA) will also hold a meeting next August right here in the Twin Cities. This meeting will feature work from a variety of ecologists - freshwater, marine, and terrestrial, and provide an opportunity for us to make broader connections with scientists working across ecosystems.  We are also excited to reconnect with our Iceland collaborators as we prepare for and travel to conferences to share results from the full scale collaborative project, and to make connections with ecologists working on similar questions.   This is especially important for me while I am looking towards graduate programs after my graduation from St. Kate’s at the end of the coming year.

              I can’t wait to see what the next year has in store for me.  The possibilities seem endless and I am excited to see how the impact of this experience continues to grow as I explore the data and the implications of our findings.  I knew that an international research experience would be unlike anything I had ever done before, but I didn’t know just how much of a positive impact this experience would have on my future as a scientist, and my career direction. 

...adding water to the syringe...

                 For me, it was great to be able to focus on a research problem in an intensive way and to be able to put all of my creative energy and effort toward this problem.   From something as small as reading a scientific paper, to something as big as orchestrating field work, my self-confidence has sky rocketed.  Research is not mysterious anymore.  At its core, it is critical thought, which is empowering. We can all be invested in this process if we choose to be. I don’t have to trust someone else’s answers to these questions; I can address them myself.  I will read scientific papers in a whole new way now, knowing that the final product does not reflect all of the challenges and day-to-day changes that are an innate part of the research process.   This understanding is difficult to attain in a classroom setting.  You can only get it from an immersed experience that is so interconnected with a variety of research goals, while maintaining the focus required to complete a complex research project.

...capping a chamber...

        Our project was extremely important because we were working with a process that no one else was studying in the watershed – nitrogen fixation. Not only were we able to gather an unprecedented data set with riveting conclusions, we were also able to strengthen the work of our collaborators working within the same system. This was a great outcome of our work, showing us what team work is really all about.   I also learned that in the ecological sciences, no one person can do it all!  It was a great experience to be connected to a larger goal, and it challenged us to continually be thinking about the landscape as a whole.    We made a great contribution to a large research effort that will help complete our understanding of not only freshwater streams in Iceland, but how temperature affects freshwater ecosystems in general, and in turn how global warming may change our environment. 

...and adding gas-saturated water to a chamber with Jill

                I feel ready to take this project to the next stage, and I’m so excited to see what other opportunities will unfold throughout the course of the year. Hopefully we will be able to go back to Iceland and continue exploring new questions in the Hengill watershed next year.