Meet my advisor!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gruRMsJ338U
This is the sign for the group of labs where I work.
Today I registered with the Smithsonian and was shown the lab in which I will be working! The people in this lab, the Collin lab (named after my advisor, Rachel Collin), study marine gastropods (snails), with specific interests in mating and larval development. These snails are calyptraeid gastropods in genera like Crepidula, Calyptraea, and Crucibulum. I was shown two projects that are ongoing in the lab: (1) a multiple mating experiment where females are allowed to mate with multiple males. The number and size of eggs will be recorded to see if mating with multiple partners affects these traits. (2) A seasonality study. A lot is known about the size of snail offspring in the wet season when waters are cooler, but not a lot is known about the offspring during the dry season (now). Someone needs to collect larvae and eggs during the dry season and rear them, checking for size and other qualities. So far it's hard to say, but I think I will be doing research based on the latter topic because there is already a year's worth of data and I can easily collect gastropods in the field now.
I was also told that I have a responsibility I was not expecting. I have to make a video about anything I want in the lab so it can be posted on the lab YouTube channel. I can make a "how to culture green algae" video (they grow algae in the lab to feed the snails), a welcome video for new interns, a Spanglish rap about snail sex, a funny documentary about the cab driver who sells us lunch each afternoon... anything! I don't know where to begin. But I'm glad to have this project because it will be fun to make and will be a great way to remember my studies here.
This weekend I thought I was going to work in the field since apparently there will be the lowest tides of the whole year. But plans got changed and we are not doing that, so either I will have to go out and have some fun by myself (which is hard because there are no good beaches around here, so I'd have to take a cab somewhere and I'm too cheap to do that) or I will go site-seeing in the city! I have seen many double-decker touring buses and I might have to hop on one just to familiarize myself with the area. As much as I hate being a tourist, it's good to know about where I am. Other than that I plan to buy fruit at the nearby fruit market, find a cheap bike, Skype another potential graduate advisor, and run up Cerro Ancon at least twice in a row, read Rachel's papers on snails and maybe a bit about Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Hasta pronto!
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