Week 12

It is almost that time of the year!! That time when you start finishing up collecting your data, writing your paper, and preparing for the final presentation. If anyone is wondering how my research is going. Well, let’s say that it could be worse. I am collecting my data by measuring Optical density of my sample every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So far, the data isn’t that good for the entire sample. Unfortunately, I am having very slow growth rate for 2 samples and no growth another. I know that there must be a mistake that I made, but I can’t seem to figure out what I did wrong. I

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great Thanks giving vacation!! (And good luck black Friday shopping)

Various Algae Samples

Week 11

The other day I realized that there was some interesting white foam in one of my algal containers. I didn’t seem to be air bubbles from aeration. I am almost 100% certain that it was contamination. Fortunately, the presumed contaminated algae culture was an old culture that I wasn’t collecting any data from. Nevertheless, I was very concern. Honestly, I didn’t know what else to do besides adding more algae media.  I thought that maybe I could promote algae growth, and that would eliminate the contamination. I gave it a try, and guess what?? I checked on that same algal culture today, and there wasn’t any white foam!!

I don’t know, maybe it wasn’t contamination, but at least it’s gone. 

White foam is gone!!

Week 10

I am never satisfied with my performance, and this stresses me out a lot. I don't know if anyone else feels like that, but it drives me crazy. I am starting to feel very frustrated with my project, because there is so many things I wish I could do different or expand on. Honestly, I am doing the best I can with the resources that I have.

Today I started new  algal cultures, because I am going to start recording the optical density, and get my data from this new cultures. I also received my control TODAY. I am going to be using Chlorella as my control. Okay, the idea is that Chlorella is a well known algae strain (used for biofuel), and I could compare the absorbency of Chlorella to the absorbency of the four algae strains I have. There is some research that optical density can be used to quantify growth.  There other better methods of quantifying growth, but due to lack of resources (and time constrain), optical density is the way to go. I am only going to be collecting data for three weeks (basically right before project is due). This would give me some data to present. Next week, I want to blog about the mistakes (which were many),and lessons I learned up to this point. 

Honestly, algae is pretty cool, and I hope more research is done on it, but I will not continue my research next semester. I am moving on to something that I find a bit more interesting...

CO2 REDUCTION!!! 

So the algae is growing, and that is a good thing (I guess), but then I have a huge problem. The problems is that I started off with 50ml of water sample (from each source), but I had no idea the algae concentration in each sample. I realized this was a problem after I did some research (and some thinking), but didn't know how I could fix this. I talked with Josh and he had some good suggestions. He suggested that I could use a similar method he did when he worked in a chemical company.

The procedure Josh suggested works really well when you have a homogenous solution, and my algae might not be completely homogenous, but it is very close to that. Anyway, I have to talk to Anil about it, and see if he thinks it is a good idea or not. We have five weeks for the semester to be over, and I am not pressure at all (a bit of sarcasm there). Hope everyone's projects is going well, and have spectacular weekend!!!

How was everybody's week?? 

Well, my week was awesome!! I am very happy  to communicate that I am going to be part of a research group at ASU (Tempe Campus). I am very excited, but at the same time nervous, because I want to succeed in this new opportunity. The type of research I am going to focus on is GREEN CHEMISTRY RESEARCH!!! I never thought I would have this amazing opportunity. I went to visit Professor Ryan Trovitch today about joining his research group, and he briefly explained to  me his area of research. Honestly, I was a bit overwhelmed,because he was talking about unfamiliar topics, but I tried my best to keep up with him.Professor Trovitch also gave me a couple of research papers to look at, and showed me his lab (its pretty amazing). I wish I had taken some pictures to share with everyone. 

GREEN CHEMISTRY IS THE FUTURE!!

In other news, my algae is starting to grow. I will keep everyone updated, but other than that, there is nothing much to say about my project this semester. 

Image Source: http://climateinc.org/2012/01/green-chemistry-and-clean-energy/ 

Week 7

I am finally starting to grow new algae samples. I realized that up to this point I've been learning through the many mistakes that I made.Like for example, I shouldn't have started growing algae sample on such a small containers. However, the past is behind me, and I ready to start fresh. Honestly, this last few week I felt like i wasn't going anywhere with my project. I really appreciate the help that Anil has been giving me,and hopefully everything will go well. I have everything i need to start the new growth samples, and my only problem is the shortage of algae media. For right now, I will have to use the rest of my media wisely. I think that I am going to have to get new media at my own expense, because I haven't received any of the supplies Anil ordered. 

Is it just me or is time running out!! I think my stress levels are way up high now. Anyway, I talked with Anil about my research, and we came to a lot of conclusions. First, I can’t use the algae I was already growing because the conditions weren’t constant. I realized that the media evaporated over the weekend, and aeration wasn’t constant. I was trying to figure out if I should use aeration or nor by comparing the growth results. However, I decided to use aeration anyway, because there is a lot of research that supports the benefits of it on algae growth.

Like I stated before, I need to start new algae growth, and hopefully I have learned from my mistakes. I am going to leave it in for four weeks and measure the biomass and oil yield at the end. I know time is running out, but I think I have just enough time.

Before starting any new growth, I am waiting to see the results I get from another small experiment, because I am testing the best light for optimal growth.  I also have another problem….. I AM RUNNING OUT OF MEDIA. The media that Josh and Matt gave me is the only one I have, and I am running very low.

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

Week 3

Honestly, it feels like this week was very unproductive. The only thing I did was add the bubblers to my algae cultures, which I wasn’t sure if I should do, because I didn’t add them from the beginning.  I was worried that adding the bubblers will add an extra variable, but I spoke to Anil and he told me we should be fine as long as I use the same conditions and time for all of my samples. Hopefully, adding the bubblers will increase growth, because so far the algae cultures have been growing very slowly.

In other news, I joined the club URSA Majors, and I am an officer. I can’t believe it!! I am grateful for the opportunity that everyone in the club has given me, and I know that it is a big responsibility. My title is “Fundraiser Liaison”, but technically I am a co-treasurer. I am going to be working with another member, and together we are going to take on the financial responsibilities for the club. I am excited!!

Week 2

A new semester has arrived, and the opportunities are endless. I have high expectations for my research project, not only because I am working alongside a PC faculty with great expertise on this subject, but also due to the fact that I am being funded by WAESO. I feel like a bunch of eyes are looking at me, and expect me to do great things. Will my project yield any decent results? Only time will tell.

                So far, I being trying to start growth from the four different water samples I have collected.I haven’t had any apparent growth, but it has only being five days! I need to be patient, and if there isn't any growth anytime soon, I will have to take a step back and analyze the problem. 

The good news is that I have set up my small algae farm (well I am not growing anything there yet). Thank you Josh, for all the help in building it. 

My miniature algal farm!!!

For the past two weeks I have been growing more algae, and researching a bit more on them. I also had the chance to talk to Tony, and I asked him a bit about the project he did on algae last semester. He gave me very helpful information. For example, he introduced me to “F2” which is an algae growth medium that he described as “steroids” for algae. However, he also told me that it is very expensive.           Last Saturday, I went to Sedona and collect a water sample (and some pond scum). I was able to look at the algae under a microscope. It looked pretty cool, but unfortunately this type of algae (filamentous algae) it not good for oil production. I am a very disappointed, because the water sample I collected were contaminated with this type of algae. I am probably going to throw them away, because growing this type of algae is not going to be helpful for my project. Image of Algae collected from Sedona

This week I just observed the growth of the algae I am growing. The algae seems to be growing well, and I will probably change the water in the containers in order for the algae to have more available nutrients.  I also started my side project on aquaponics. I started it, by cleaning a fish tank, and adding clean water. I also  added water conditioner, and introduced two gold fish. Right now, I am going to wait before I start planting anything, because I am waiting for the bacteria bloom inside the fish tank. I decided that for this side project I am going to make a comparison on growing the same type of plant in an aquaponics and in a regular garden. I thinking of comparing growth or quality of plant, but I am open to suggestions!!

My new clean fish tank

My new pets

 

 

I haven’t blogged in a while, and I have a lot to tell. First of all, I had to change my research project, and I am no longer doing it on plastic degrading bacteria. The reason for this is that I realized that I just don’t have enough time to see some good results. I also got a little discourage, because I wasn’t allowed to collect a sample soil from the Glendale Landfill. They told me that it was too hazardous.

                However, the good news is that I have started a very exciting new project. I am doing my project on selectively growing oil-producing algae. I am also trying to identify the presence of oil producing algae in lakes and ponds in Arizona. I want to growth oil-producing algae that are found naturally in our area.  I am going to do something similar to what Tony did last semester, but just take it a different route.

 I am also going to do a side project on aquaponics. Today, I had a genius idea on how to connect both projects. I have a good research question now!! However, I don’t really want to go into detail .For now, I am just beginning the process of growing my algae. I collected water samples from Encanto Park Lake and other lakes around Phoenix. I started to growth algae from those samples, and so far I have seen some growth!!

I am a little stressed out!! I haven't heard from the superintendent of the Glendale Landfill. I received an email from him with a link to submit a formal request.  I submitted right away, but unfortunately I haven’t received any feedback. The superintendent said it would take about 3 to 5 days. Right now, I don’t have permission to collect a sample of soil from the Glendale Landfill. I also don’t have all of the types of plastic I need. I need to acquire at least to types of biodegradable plastic bags. I tried to buy them online, but they sell the bags in large bundles that cost at least one hundred dollars. I am trying to contact the companies that manufacture this type of bags, and try to convince them to send me a couple of bags for free.

I didn't now it will be so hard to collect landfill soil!!