Presentation nightmare

Happy Tuesday Everyone

I woke up this morning tired, frantic and completely discombobulated. I had a dream that I lost all of my teeth during the presentation of my unknown bacteria! After I calmed down I went into the bathroom just to make sure I still had all 32 chompers...I did (haha). I am super excited to share my journey through my experiment. I hit a couple rough spots in the beginning but recuperated by the end and ended up with a successful discovery. I am looking forward to next semester, I cant wait to design my own experiment with protocols that I learned from Identifying an Unknown Bacteria. Keep up the good work everyone, almost done!

Peace Jenni

Never enough hours..

Happy Turkday Everyone

Is it just me or should there be more hours in a day? I think yes. I went to bio lab to day to crank out another piece to my puzzle (the report) and time just flew by bofore I could fiinish the procedure documentation for my first test I performed on my unkown bacteria. I was there for 2 hours! I hope you all are moving along faster that I am. I did reapply for next semester with high hopes of being selected again. I actually rearranged my schedule for next semester and enrolled in one less class so I can dedicate more time to STEM. I feel like I haven't let my total potential shine because of having a heavy load this semester and that I have been going through the motions this past week. I am a person that thrives on pouring passion, focus, and committment to everything I do especially in school. Hopefully I redeem myself next semester and really show everyone what I am capable of:)

Peace
Jenni

Happy Thursday Everyone

So as many of you know I ride my bike to and from school as often as I can. Today was a little different, I rode my scooter to my morning classes came home in the afternoon to play with my pups then headed back to school on my bike for my internship followed by my night class. I normally avoid riding at night because people seem to be less aware of their surroundings and tend to ingnore bicyclists. Anyways, after class I ride home (about a 25 min commute) only to find the SWAT team across the street from my house. Now, there has been some suspicious activity at the particular house they were at for a few months and there has been over 20 arrests according to a local police officer. We have also had an undercover police sit in a car on our driveway and the neighbors to watch the activity coming and going within that house. Tonight was the night! They must have found something worth breaking a door and shatterng a window to hold the people in that house accountable.

What happens to a person to go down that path? A path lead by drugs, theft, lies, and constant paranoia. I would love to study the brainchemistry involved that determines choices and the motives behind it. If only I could make a pesticide that repels those types of people...haha. As far as Im concerned- justice has been served. Thank you Phoenix Police Department for keeping our neighborhood safe.

Papers and finals and little sleep...OH MY!

Happy Thursday Everyone

I am stressing about our research paper that is due in one week. I am still working on a rough draft of my rough draft! Anyone else freaking out??!! I am probably making it more complicated than it needs to be but I can't help it if I have high expectaions. Anyways.. I think I have a solid idea of my next project. I am going to create at least 5 natural pesticides to treat a cricket infestation: Diatomaceous Earth (used in sprinkle form and spray form), Oil and Soap (spray), Pepper and Soap (spray), Ground Cloves (spray), Garlic and Onion and Pepper (spray), Tomato leaves (spray), and a Basil Tea (spray). All of the sprays will use a base of water but Im still not sure how I want to execute this project. Im confident that Matt will point me in the right direction. Good luck to contructing your final reports.

Peace ,
Jenni

Week 3 of Project

1. Happy Thursday Everyone!
   
   
   I left off last week with needing to perform yet another test to identify unknown #27. This is what the glucose test looked like-
    

   

   
   

   
   

   The purpose of this test is to observe any changes when unknown #27 is exposed to different types of sugar environments. I was looking for a color change and/or if the bacteria produced a gas. My results-

   
   

   	TSB NaCl	TSI	Tryptone	Lactose	Manitol	Glucose
   Acid	-	+	-	-	-	+
   Gas	-	-	-	-	-	-

   
   

   Upon interpereting results, unknown #27 is better known as Bacillus Cereus. 

   
   

   

     
2. B.cereus is a toxin producing bacteria which can cause two different types of illnesses: one type characterized by diarrhea and the other, called emetic toxin, by nausea and vomiting. These bacteria are present in foods and can multiply quickly at room temperature (50-120* F). This particular bacterium only accounts for approximately 2-5% of reported food borne illnesses. 
   
   
   Peace
   Jenni  
   
   

Week 2 of Project

Happy Thursday Everyone!

I went in the lab this week with high hopes for my bacteria friends. I took out my streak plate from incubator and this is what I found -

My first thought was AHHHHH contamination! So I quickly remade a streak plate with my unknown #27 and proceeded to perform a gram stain with my initial bacteria culture results. After the gram staining I was able to identify whether my bacteria was + or - and its morphology. So far unknown #27 is gram + and bacilli. Take a look -

This is my 2nd trial streak plate- I made sure that the results were conclusive, meaning that after gram staining this bacteria culture I should get the same results. I did.

Since my results produced a gram + bacilli, the next step was to perform an endospore test. In this test you use malachite green to penetrate bacteria cells. After staining you look under a microscope to see if there was a discoloration of cell walls. If its greenish in color you have spores. Unknown #27 did produce spores. The next step is to perform a glucose test...  I will post my results soon.

Peace,
Jenni

Week 1 of Project

Happy Thursday. Today was my first day in lab. Joshua had me watch vidoes of lab safety and protocols all which I found very useful since it has been a while since I have been in a lab. NOTE: PHENOL IS DANGEROUS! When I was finished watching the videos Joshua asked me to search how to perform a bacteria "streak" and what the difference was between that and a  bacteria "lawn". Apparently a streak technique is used to isolate a bacteria colony for further testing and a lawn technique is used to test bacteria sensitivities to antibiotics, garlic, and detergents. So after my 5 minute research I performed this procedure and sent my unknown #27 into incubation. We will see if my technique produces results on Monday:)

Day 1-

Interview for Internship 10.16.13

My interview was scheduled for 1:30p on Wed 10/16/13 and man was I nervous. I arrived there 10 min early and couldn't stop wondering about what questions I was going to be asked. Luckily Joshua is really easy to talk to so my interview went well and I left wanting to know more about Biological Research.

I figured since I am pursuing a degree in eviormental engineering why not research biofuels and the recent advancements in technology. Fortunantely reasearch still continues but it is going to take a lot of money and brain power to be able to manufacture biomass efficiently on a comercial scale. Right now corn grain is the primary source of  U.S. ethanol production simply because it is easier to breakdown than woodchips and grasses. Much of todays research is focused on accelerating the deconstruction of cellulosic biomass into sugars that can be converted into biofeuls. I have included the link to this page and there is also a helpful diagram that depicts plant matter conversion to cellulosic ethanol. BIOFUEL


Peace,
Jenni