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Journals 2005/2006Judy Reeves
August 10, 2005 Today Anne and I did the QA/QC (quality assurance/quality control) on the YSI sonde. Remember, that's the water quality data logger that we deployed at each creek to do continuous sampling over a 24-hour period. We checked the calibrations for turbidity, chlorophyll a, pH with buffers of pH 7 and pH 10, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and depth. Everything checked out, so we know our data is valid. I met with David White, who has a Ph.D. in Marine Biology and is the head of Data Management for Hollings. Usually the data management guys are computer techies who have to have the science explained to them; David is a scientist with a good background in GIS (geographic information system) and data management because of his research. The goal at Hollings is to consolidate and make available all the data from all the parts of the model-to all the interested parties. A very big job! This afternoon I was able to attend a status meeting with all the tidal monitoring people. Fred Holland, Hollings Lab Director, Dr. Denise Sanger, the Principal Investigator, Dr. Guy Didonato and Anne Blair, NOAA scientists, and Mark Messer, graduate student, were in attendance. Dr. Holland is really on top of things; he's very sharp. He wants existing GIS data on the watersheds and impervious cover used to evaluate and summarize the tidal monitoring data.
One of the labs I haven't mentioned is the Pathogen Tracking Lab. Laura Webster and "the two Brians" analyze water samples for pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and protozoans. They use a Luminarc to test the samples after they have been concentrated by PCR. The Luminarc tests only qualitatively for presence of pathogens, but Brian can test DNA extracted from oysters quantitatively using a QPCR (Quick PCR). The Luminarc is brand-new, cutting edge, and Laura says they are still on the learning curve of possibilities. The science at this place is incredible! |
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