Week 5

I know I haven't posted in a while. I really need to start keeping up with my blog. However, I really don't have any major discovery to inform. I have being trying to grow algae from my different sources. I realized that when I started growing my samples, I really didn't think much of finding out the optimal conditions for each algae strain. I mean the idea was to try to grow all the samples from conditions (such as pH, temperature, light, and nutrients) that were the same, and compare the biomass and oil content after a period of time. I really have to emphasize that I don't know how many and which algae strains are present in each water sample collected from four different sources.

I am starting to think that I should take a step back, and reflect on the way I am setting up my research. The good news is that I found a peer review article about a similar research project to mine. In this research, they collected various samples from ponds, and tried to evaluate the presence of algae strains useful for biofuel. However, their approach was to first find the optimal conditions for each algae strain, and then grow each strain using those conditions.

The problem with replicating the same experiment (with my samples)is that I don't have a lot of the materials and devices that they used. I might be able to replicate a part of their experiment, but I need to communicate this idea with Anil to see what he thinks.

I also have started to get a bit frustrated, because I realized that the algae samples that I have been growing have been under too many different conditions.I realized that if I want to have a solid experiment, I need to restart growing new samples.

I just need to sit down and evaluate the next step to take... WISH ME LUCK