This week we have placed orders for all of the materials we need to get the tank set up and running. There has not been time yet to get back to the tank and get it ready for the project and begin putting the materials in it. An initial task for us was to plan dates to come in over winter break, but because there will not be live oysters that need care, we decided to come in the first monday to get everything set up because we expect to have all of the materials by then. We have also started planning our mid-year presentation; we have gained approval to present to Ms. Nutter's Environment Science II class, we just need to specify a date. Something we still need to address is gaining access to oysters, so right now we are emailing someone from Horn Point who we previously emailed, but hopefully we will hear back now because we have narrowed down our ideas and goals for the project. We are finalizing procedures for introducing oysters into the tank once we get them and the introduction of microplastics in the test group. Something else we need to think about concerning the test and control groups are setting up the additional tank, which we may have, but if the one we have cannot be used, another tank will be ordered and arrive before break is over. The next actions that will be taken are to unpack all of the materials and get them set up with the tank, as well as find a source that we can get oysters from.
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Over the past week we emptied the water from the tank and have been narrowing down the final materials list. We have been talking to Tara and Phil to figure out certain types of filters and other equipment that would work best for the tank, but because of our timeline we may just order what we can find just to get everything set up. We also ran into the problem of where we will get oysters from once the tank is up and running, which is something we have to figure out. We began planning the second part of our project where we will conduct an actual experiment using the oysters. We are going to test the effect of microplastics on the filtration rate of Eastern oysters and have been designing this over the past week. Right now we are going to listen to the audio recording from the meeting with Tara and use this information to gather the rest of our materials. For next week we plan on putting the substrate, water, and instant ocean into the tank as a starting point. We will also have all of our materials ordered and continue planning out the experiment with microplastics so we will have time after winter break to get everything accomplished.
Before break we finished our final project proposal, which was what we worked towards for the first trimester. It outlined the background research, experiment, materials, and all aspects we need to put the project into action. We met with Tara Scully from George Washington University who was very helpful and told us about the experimenting they are conducting with oysters. She also went over the general process of maintaining a tank and told us we could potentially get in contact with Horn Point to receive oysters. We have set up our google calendar and research notebook that organizes and keeps track of the work we have to do for each day. Currently we have sent in orders for the first set of materials and are going to remove water from the tank and identify the equipment underneath the tank to see what other materials we need to order. Our next steps are to listen to the audio recording from our meeting with Tara and order the rest of the equipment we need to set up the tank.
Since last week we have been working on all of the assignments that are preparing us for our final project proposal, which is due on Monday. This is our biggest priority right now and will incorporate everything that we have done throughout this trimester. We will have to organize our literature review, methodologies, materials, timeline, budget, a general overview of the project, references, and a presentation of the work. We are currently waiting for someone from Reef eScape to get back to us so they can look at the supplies we have and help us get together all of the other items on our materials list. We were not able to specifically complete the budget and timeline assignments because a lot of it depends on when we are able to get the resources we need. There are not currently any major accomplishments, but we have outlined most of our project with good information and reached out to more people in the community. At the moment we are working on the project proposal and along with this the next step is getting the materials so we can be prepared to begin everything when the second trimester starts.
Over this week we completed our methodologies assignment, which is a thorough explanation of all the factors that will go into our project and will help with our final proposal. It has been difficult to find time switching between the homework assignments we are given and the outside work we have to do, like send out emails and continue research. We did send out one email, but other than that the main progress has been figuring out our methodologies and further specifying what we will do in the second trimester. Ms. Darling informed us that doing the outside work will guide the homework assignments that are necessary to complete, so this weekend I will try to send out a good amount of emails because I know this will lead to progression. It has been a challenge to narrow down our project because our original goal was very inspirational, but meeting with Ms. Nutter and Ms. Darling we realized that establishing oysters at Bullis will make an impact regardless of what we choose to do with them. I think the most important next steps to take are immediately send out emails, this is my top priority right now.
This week has been more productive than the past few and we have been refining what our plans are for the project. Brenton McCloskey emailed us a list of around seven sources, which should be very helpful for receiving support. We have completed the introduction of our literature review by writing about the problem, why it is important, and what we propose. The literature review also incorporates any past research that has been conducted on the topic and how it relates to this project. Our goals for the upcoming week are to send out emails to all the contacts Brenton gave us, get back in contact with Reef eScape, and create a list of the items that we need to purchase for an oyster tank so we can look into buying them. Because we are not researching what we initially proposed, the upcoming weeks will be a lot of finding past experiments and articles, as well as experts who are willing to help.
This past week has been a very slow week regarding progress and it seems like the project has come to a road block. We have been thinking of new directions to go with our project, but are not sure how to go about them because it feels like we are back where we started at the beginning of the year. After talking with our mentor, we agreed our main goal is to create and sustain an oyster population in a tank at Bullis. When that is stable, we can proceed from there regarding if we will conduct research or tests with them. We also had a phone call with Brenton McCloskey, who has worked in fields relating to our project and is willing to help us find contacts that we can reach out to. We are hoping to reach out to more people and continue getting work done for our project.
This past week we received an email back from a professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science who informed us that this idea for a project has already been conducted as a multi-year experiment. In the 2000's, when the oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay was severely struggling, they did consider adding triploid oyster from Asia. They did many tests and the overall result was that the risks outweigh the benefits and these oysters should not be added to the bay, but the focus should be on restoring the native population. After receiving information, we have been looking for a new direction for our project, but one that still focuses on oysters so we do not lose all of the research that has been conducted up to this point. Some possible areas of interest are diseases such as MSX and dermo or the oysters' ability to filter plastic micro beads. This week has been regrouping and organizing all of our information up to this point and our current focus is to find a new direction to proceed in. Over the last week we have sent out a lot of emails in an attempt to find potential resources for various aspects of our project. We have been talking back and forth with Reef eScape and realized we need to get at least another tank in order to have separate systems for the two oyster populations. We also got in contact with a professor from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, who we will hopefully be able to ask questions about oyster growth. Additionally, we turned in the first copy of our annotated bibliography with 12 sources that were analyzed for how they could contribute to our project. Currently we are working on getting out as many emails to potential resources as possible and narrowing down the guidelines for what our tanks will look like. I have been looking at organizations that are partnered with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Horn Point to get an idea of other groups that could be helpful, which we will reach out to. Kathryn has been looking further into where we could get materials and specifications for the tank.
This past week me and Kathryn have continued research, wrote our elevator pitch, emailed more possible resources and assessed the tank we currently have at Bullis. We found one really good source that is an extensive book all about non-native oysters in the Chesapeake Bay and will probably be something we reference a lot through the course of our project. We also received an email back from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and are working on arranging a time for a phone call. During our mentor meeting with Ms. Nutter we were able to look at the tank and get dimensions as well as note that it includes a water circulation pump, a filter and different colored lights. This allowed us to look further into designing the experiment and think about how we would separate the two oyster populations and where we would get the other resources, which led to us emailing Reef eScape and hearing back that they would be willing to help. At this moment we are locating more sources and completing the first version of our annotated bibliography. We have a good number of informative sources and have been able to get an idea of where we are with tank resources in the past week, so we are on track with the timeline. From here I plan on making the phone call with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, arranging a time for the Reef eScape people to assess the tank we have and complete the annotated bibliography with notes that will be helpful for our project.
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December 2016
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