So long and farewell

Wow!  I can’t believe that the summer internship is coming to an end.  It doesn’t seem that long ago when I was traveling to UTEP just to find where I was going to be this summer and now I am working on a poster which sums up what I have learned this summer.  …and boy, what an adventure it has been!

When I first started on my research journey I had an idea that I would tackle the problem of algae blooms.  To start on the process I was paired with an undergraduate student and we worked on the applications of titanium dioxide paint to rid water of organic dyes.   What an amazing process that was to see, how the exposure of polluted water sources in containers with titanium dioxide paint applied could be purified… mind blown!

When it came down to my algae project, I found that I do not have a green thumb per say when it comes to algae.  When placing the algae in the titanium dioxide painted glassware the algae did in fact die… all of it dies, including the control.

So, back to the drawing board.  This week I have been working on the chlorophyll extraction practice of my algae samples after they were exposed to UV light.

Unfortunately, as the internship is coming to an end, the algae portion of my summer internship will be discussed not as the basis of my research but as future work.  No worries though, I have learned so much this summer and what I will be presenting next week I will do so with as much excitement as I have had for my algae research.

See you all next week!

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