Yesterday we had our first exam for Environmental Science. It went really well...except for the part where I didn't remember to study how the Wastewater Treatment Plant works. Having Dr. CK for both of my classes can get a little confusing, and all of the days seem to be running together. Needless to say, I mixed up my field trips and classes. Nonetheless, I think I'm still going to pass. I've been spending a lot of my time writing my papers. I challenged myself to write everything correctly the first time, and have all of my sources lined up and cited correctly the first time. This makes it feel like I just spent 3 days writing the introduction, but in reality, the paper is almost complete.
Today we were lectured by Dr. Weirda. Dr. Weirda worked with Bald Eagles in Michigan, measuring their accumulation of DDT and PCBs. It seemed like really interesting work, and definitely the type of work that gets you outside...and in trees. Basically, toxins like Mercury, DDT and PCBs build up in top predators due to bioaccumulation. Eaglets are a great subject for this kind of study because not only are they being fed by their parents (which are the top predator), but the adult eagles are only eating fish and only from a certain area. The idea is, you test the babies that are eating the same stuff as the adults, which are accumulating the same amount of the toxins as the humans that eat the fish. As previously stated, his worked seemed great, and little eaglets are pretty cute in their own special way.
No comments:
Post a Comment