Algae in our gas tanks?
This summer I am working with Dr. Elizabeth Canuel looking at the biochemical composition of algae. I am doing this so that we can determine if algae is a good potential source for biofuel. Currently Exxon is investing a large sum of money to look at the same idea... what I am doing is the start of a new direction in the biofuel market, hopefully.
All in all this week has been a great one for me! I finished up my extractions on my algae samples, i.e., I got everything I wanted out of them and now they are ready to be analyzed. I am also all done with my lab work, tear, and am ready to move on to bigger and better, the writing of my final paper. After 8 weeks of lab work and scraping algae, the summer is coming to a close.
Here are a few important things I learned this summer that I want to share:
- Algae smells worse than it looks
- Pipetting is more fun when another person is there
- There is an unending supply of glassware to be cleaned
- Instruments are rarely happy and willing to work when you want them to.