Craft Time or Research?

Continuing on with my research, I’ve decided to design my own project this semester in hopes of answering some questions that came up during our trip to Iceland. I am interested in how nitrogen fixation rates have been measured in the field using different methods, and what each of those methods tells us. One of the most important parts of our research is making sure our methods are accurately measuring nitrogen fixation rates. If there are some variables that are unaccounted for in our methods, we may be underestimating or overestimating the rates at which new nitrogen is entering ecosystems.

One of the three methods - injecting the water with
heavy nitrogen gas.

This semester I will be working towards understanding how current methods for measuring nitrogen fixation rates compare to each other. I will be studying them in a completely controlled laboratory environment, while only manipulating single variables at a time. What I hope to establish is how each method responds to temperature when measuring nitrogen fixation rates. While not unexpected, the preliminary data suggest the three different methods that we have used in the field do not agree with each other. This is perplexing to me and I am determined to solve this mystery.

 Bauhaus - the "pot of gold" to us -
a hardware store we relied on in
Iceland for supplies.

As I prepare to begin my experiment, I have been reading scientific papers that describe these methods in detail, trying to understand long calculations, and thinking about all the details that I need to keep track of during my experiments. I have to closely monitor water temperature, pressure, and volume among many other variables. The next step will be to buy and order all the supplies I need, including live algal cultures, and make a trip to the local hardware store. It seems impossible, but sometimes we can’t just go online and order the exact supplies for these specific experiments. While they may not know it, hardware stores are very useful for scientific experiments.

Though it may not seem like it, research can involve many skills. It involves math, science, critical thinking and writing skills, just as much as it involves being just a little bit crafty at times. There are numerous occasions where we need to build custom supplies for such a specific task, that there just isn't the demand for them yet among many consumers, and they just can’t be ordered. The best way to get exactly what you want is to make it yourself. This requires some resourcefulness and thinking outside of the box. Luckily, hardware stores usually carry a wide variety of odds and ends to provide us with all the necessary items to make custom equipment that can suit the needs of any unique project. This is the part where I really have to thank my parents for all those years of childhood crafts and building projects. Those years of fine tuning my love and appreciation for tape, glue and re-purposed cardboard boxes have finally been put to the test and come in handy. Last summer our team invented a way to keep warm water in 60 ml syringes insulated while we shook them for 5 minutes or sometimes longer. What we came up with was insulating them with pipe insulation and duct tape. The design was nearly perfect - it allowed us to shake three large syringes in one hand at a time, while keeping the temperature of the water inside within a few tenths of a degree away from the temperature of the stream, after being exposed to the air for 5 minutes. This was especially ideal for days when the air temperature was much colder than the water temperature.

Syringe insulators made from pipe insulator and
wrapped in duct tape, which I named
"Sleevies", because they look like sleeves for syringes!

With my new project this semester, I will be using familiar methods, but I will be applying them in a laboratory setting.  So, I will have to rethink the overall design and discover how to best adapt our field methods for the lab. While working in the lab is certainly much easier than the unpredictable field environment in many ways, other aspects of the project become more challenging.  In the field, I really took for granted that the algae was right at our feet and self-sufficient -  all we had to do was collect it from the stream. Unfortunately, it is now winter in Minnesota and below freezing, and obtaining and maintaining algal specimens to work with will be one of the most challenging factors to deal with in a laboratory setting. Hopefully, I can find an algal species that will cooperate and be an appropriate comparison with our field data; however, I’m looking forward to the challenge.  I will really add some diversity to my skill set and research experience with this project, and will challenge myself in new ways by taking leadership of the project as a whole. Stay tuned for updates on my progress and possible inventions!