Megan’s Log

Journal entries imported from the previous iteration of wisrd.org

22.7.25

• met with Christina K: will be co-advising with Dr. Banks this year

• need to write a proposal about urchin tank

• made 3 more fly boxes for AMM

• signs I need to make:

• important dates in WISRD for the 22-23 year

• WISRD observatory signage

22.7.18 to 22: vacation

22.7.6-14 organized lab, did trainings, helped build WISRD observatory (need to work on signage…)

22.7.5

things to do:

• replied to Lukas’s email re: motors, etc

• ask IT or EdTech about adobe access- Nick says they need to update something on IT’s end, so I’ll have to wait on Mark coming back from vacation. Using free trial for now

• thinking about switching hydroponics and the 3D printers…then move the hydroponics table to where the current circuit table is (just switch spots) so it is closer to the sink and water source. Will then need to move the Jetson computer closer to the AR/VR computers- need to do some measuring

• continuing to work on AM’s fly box- think I have it designed and ready to go but will wait until after Joe does his telescope work so the room doesn’t get too smelly when the acrylic is cut

• call at 11 with Lili about finance stuff

22.7.1

I am officially the Director of the Wildwood Institute of STEM Research and Development!!

• Bob came in to do some clean up from the building yesterday, and grab some supplies Joe will need next week when he finishes building the radio telescope box on Tuesday (I need to be here at 8, that’s when I told him I’d be here)- Bob will be gone next week for a conference in Ontario (Canada, not California)

• need to think about signage for the radio telescope-should think about language elementary school teachers use, ask folk over there…

• turns out accounting has no idea how Joe dealt with Bob reimbursements, so we’re figuring that out.

• I will only be on campus two days next week (Tues and Wed) so I need to think about how that will affect what I do while here…

• figured out basics of laser cutting, used red wood and it smells very nice

• got specs for fly box for AM- basically a test-tube rack looking holder that will hold fly containers that are 3 cm in diameter, so need holes a little bigger than that, and fit in a space that is 20 cm by 26 cm, maybe 3 cm high.

• ok the trouble is just figuring out how to make glowforge cut the file I found…need to use .svg file?

22.6.30: MLI workshops 9-2, then back to WISRD!

• Joe and Bob are building a second holder for another radio telescope- both will be moved to elementary school campus next week.

• I’m printing some posters for the 50th reunion stuff

22.6.24 through 29: MLI workshops

22.6.24

• went on roof to get the AirSpy, look at set ups of weather station and radio telescope

• took other radio telescope to the elementary campus to look at readings there- very clear. See notes in planner (on date page and page 245)

• To test a new area, you need to bring:

• radio telescope

• pi with software installed

• pi power supply

• Airspy to cut noise

• board that connects to airspy, to process its data (maybe? need to check what this was for)

• power strip

• extension cord

• if on a network other than WISRD, can’t VNC in so will also need monitor with HTMI port, HTMI cable and adaptor for Pi, mouse, keyboard

• to see if site a good one for the radio telescope:

• set up in an area where you are not in the way or going to get run over, near where you hope to put the scope- in this case we were in the parking lot at the elementary campus, in an area with some open spaces and no entrance/exit to worry about traffic

• set up telescope- connect small board directly to serial (maybe) port on telescope, then serial cable to this, then Airspy. Then HTMI cable connects to Airpy to Pi board, with power supply of Pi hooked up to power (might need a power strip and extension cord, we did in this case but forgot power strip so borrowed from Snow, security guy at elementary school): telescope can collect data now. To see this, connect monitor via cable with HTMI adaptor, and connect keyboard and mouse.

• note: if pi has not been powered up and connected to Wifi, it will show the same data as the last time it was powered up- we found this when the data files were given as being on 3/21/22, but at least it was taking data!

• good to start taking data on the hour, so when you look at specific data, you can search with easy wildcards

• to see if data is good, you need to collect “hot” (pointed at ground) and “cold” data (pointed straight up at sky, or to north pole as it is the clearest part of the sky)

• for hot data: set up software so that the elevation is -90 (press enter, don’t forget!), and do Survey and select Hot/Cold

• click “average” to look at the curve to see if it is worth continuing.

• when we were taking data, it would get both .hot and .ast files instead of just .hot files- Joe will check in with Glen (who wrote some of the code)

• when you get ten consecutive .hot files, you can change from “survey” to “wait” then make sure hot/cold is clicked before you click “save”

• for “cold” data-

• change elevation to 90 (positive- don’t forget to push enter)

• click “survey”

• flip telescope over

• hit “average” to make sure data is being taken and to look at the curve

• collect 10 consecutive .ast files and save as above

• once you have the hot and cold run, you can pack up and work on data in lab, out of the sun- don’t forget sunscreen next time!

• So, looks like having the (or a) radio telescope at the elementary school would give us very clean data, so next steps:

• got approval from Katie R, director of elementary school

• get approval from Gerald R, head of facilities (who is coincidentally married to Katie) for safety, etc. reasons

• got Mark G (IT) to open up a port for access to data- he is okay with this

• get power to roof some how- is there an outlet up there? Or will we need to power through ethernet like we do at upper school?

• create signage so the set up is also a learning experience for the students, advertising for WISRD, and a student retention opportunity for the school

• used 50 ohm terminator to use AirSpy on data we collected from the telescope earlier- data is clean but much higher and less spread out than we are used to seeing…

• Hmmmm need a reference manager software and would like one that students can use- several people suggested Mendeley, but school seems to block it, need to test at home or ask Nick for other options.

• goals with radio telescope:

• hydrogen map of sky

• student engagement at elementary school

22.6.23

• Got my Wildwood email! Time to register with so many apps and sites and organizations…

• Want to start outline of WISRD Handbook today

• Need to finish second RoCCS paper edits- done!

• Need to go back and add in bit about rinsing charcoal bags in first RoCCS paper.

• Would be nice to have a bulletin board or slide on a scrolling screen or the Wildwood social media pages that said “What is WISRD doing?” with each big research question, one per slide. Or link to Tweets

• helped Pam with image scaling issue…or in process of helping

22.6.22

• Microsoldering lesson with Bob!

• Editing Ex situ coral growth: A technical report on tank lightning and water chemistry parameters for growth of small polyp stony (SPS) coral microfragments in a marine aquarium paper

• meeting with CK at 11 to check in- take aways included getting a WISRD credit card, setting up key access, and establishing date of official email.

• meeting at 1 with Randy to learn access to building

22.6.21

• Need to find links to all the components for the new AR/VR computer

• asked Tristan about finding computer parts for AR/VR- he got me links, so now I need to send to Joe to order

• contacted glowforge about account access

• working on Weatherlink access

• article edits- sent email asking about active vs passive voice in methods

• Bob got us some containers for wood scraps- need to ask Joe what we should have in stock

• want to enclose the hydroponics, and maybe build a better base that does not depend on that shelf in the back supporting it

• consult meeting with AM- see google doc

22.6.13 through 17

Quarknet teacher workshop- learned to use Python in Google Colabs in analysis of scientific data, and how to use with student projects

22.6.2 through 8, then took a couple days off
General organization of the lab and went to student presentations

22.6.1
Working on cabinets

22.5.31

• Inventory begins! Going through big boxes under the hydroponics set up.

22.5.26

I’m in charge! What a rush…

• Talks with Joe:

• general notes

• avoid thinking that people don’t know what they are doing- rather, provide opportunities and ask questions

• our site is considered a working site- not a blog, because not looking to elicit comments, but a place were information is aggregated (via journals) and displayed (via publications)

• Social media

• podcasts- we have the ability, Ian used to do them. Need to find out if people are still interested

• technically, Iz is the social media manager, but this may have fallen off her radar. Do we have anyone else interested in this? Or do can we find someone outside of WISRD who might be interested? Bring up at next board meeting

• point is to highlight different groups and give members a chance to practice speaking about their work and research projects (esp in podcasts)

• WISRD evolves because members grow it into what they need and want it to be (rather than solely based on what COO or the school wants)

• journal is now called WISRD Research and Technology Journal

• Notes for the beginning of the school year:

• ordering shirts- do early

• board chooses a t-shirt committee who picks three potential shirt colors, and then send them out to all members to vote on one

• company used is customink.com updated the site with joe’s email as log in and my password

• always give shirts to facility, also consider Lili (finances), IT folks

• before start of year

• set up access/pages on WP for each new student

• uses normal WISRD password to log in, then they have to change it

• reconsider the “change password every month” option

• send email to parents with introduction and (very important) the dates of WISRD events!! That way they know far in advance.

• Calendar

• we have two clubs that meet on site (or will when campus is open again)

• 2nd Friday of every month: Astro club; 3rd Wednesday: Microscope club

• meet in the theater but are very flexible, can meet in classrooms if theater is in use

• important collaborators!

• currently our campus is closed and these are held virtually- don’t know yet when (or if) campus will open fully again); they are looking for alternative spaces

• kids can come to the clubs to present their data, the clubs love that

• November Microscope meeting is a big deal- pondwater night, demo night- will need to use gallery space because theater is in use (but this also means theater goers will get to see their stuff…)

• should I look into other clubs to invite to come here? More potential collaborators??

• Oct 26: Dark Matter Day

• Before this, go to the elementary school to do a presentation to spark interest

• Like a physics circus but more of a chance for members to reach out, especially to younger students

• uses gallery space (need to ask Laura who is in charge of this space)

• last one was precovid, so not many current members have experienced this

• admin loves a live feed of this

• provide pizza and soda, at least

• Smart and Final has dry ice we can put in the punch bowl (but have a net on cups so no one drinks the dry ice!)

• lots of fun demos have been done in the past, including:

• van de graaf

• 3D printer

• laser cutter (cut names, etc)

• CNC

• microscopes (as set up by microscope society)

• crush can

• monkey and hunter

• egg and sheet

• standing waves

• infrared camera

• AR/VR

• near Halloween, so can have a costume contest- do we want different age categories or just small kids?

• November 7: Fall poster session

• can’t do much later in the year because the calendar fills up

• much like the spring session

22.5.25

• Edited physiology group’s meeting notes with timeline, etc.

• chatted with Joe about the trickiness of scheduling WISRD as an elective vs getting members who contribute.

• this is another reason why making a rubric similar to Scott’s will be helpful for to aggregate evidence for each student (but will need to leave examples open, and call them evidence)

• concerned this might restrict the ability to see overlaps…keep thinking, though

• showed N how to replace Dremel head, let her use it and the vice clamp to shorten screws on her own, helped develop the language to describe this on her Vitae as adapting to a challenge

• began editing RoCCs thermistor paper in earnest

• anthology- Joe’s idea, WISRD anthology, book about implementing institute model, maybe do at 10th anniversary

22.5.24

• Last minute prep for Joe’s lunch

• weird thing happened where my card didn’t go through but the order did (thank goodness), so I was able to use the school’s card to pay for it

• During Outro week, I’ll work with Joe to make sure everything is ready for the transition

• go through folders on server to make sure it all makes sense (update Readme files)

• Found some hydroponic papers to send the group

• started IT course on codecademy

• mcmaster-carr- where to order parts

• Sparkfun- where to order EMG sensors- oops they have paused sales of the ones we want (Myowear 2.0) so checking other places- ordered from digikey

• adafruit- another place to order things

• in theory, we could use Christina’s card if they won’t give me one for WISRD purchases (Landis, Christina, Jose all have cards)

• needed to make shorter screws- learned how to use dremel properly, showed Nnenna

• want to read Shayna’s paper and provide sources for us both to learn about spectral astronomy

• some videos to check out:

• Classification of Stars: Spectral Analysis and the H-R Diagram

• Stellar Spectroscopy – what can we learn about stars

• Blackbody radiation

• Blackbody Radiation, Modern Physics, Quantum Mechanics, and the Oxford Comma | Doc Physics

• Module 9 / Lecture 3 : The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram

• OpenStax Astronomy book section on Spectroscopy in Astronomy

• want to think about a series of demos to explain this-

• when I cut a screw with a dremel, it got really hot. If it got hotter, it would change color- it would emit light. We have this idea in our minds that when metal gets hot, it turns red and yellow, but then what colors do other chemicals turn?

• chemical flame tests with diffraction- start with a match and examine what colors you can see, compare to stove tops, then go into different chemicals

• Lily- bookkeeper- gets receipts

• want to look for papers that validate use of emotiv in detecting stress response (or other events)

• also need to look for easy cortisol tests

• are there studies that corelate stress hormone and brain waves??

• Think about how to relate the self efficacy part of what the prof was talking about (see card for info) and the stress tests the Emotiv projects

22.5.23

• Editing L’s Cosmic ray paper

• helping N with tapping some holes on her hand

• chatted with Joe about middle school programs in the future- by being unofficial we can do more, but can’t have caps on the number of students involved. Something to consider for the future, as the middle school is lacking any kind of maker space, etc.

22.5.20

• Starting a doc of things we need to make get transferred to me from Joe

• interview with Hunter at 10 for “Giving Voices” Wildwood newsletter, to discuss “the evolution of WISRD, handing over the “reins” during this juncture, future goals and plans for WISRD, and the significance of female representation in STEM”

• want to test compound microscope camera with the leaf slides from hydroponics

• interesting pictures- hard to resolve at 40 and 100x probably due to the 3d nature of the surface of the leaf, but still interesting data to work off of.

• need to put them in a folder and share with the hydroponics people

22.5.18

• Grades are based on how students contribute to WISRD, vitae are more for the students to learn how to present themselves

• seeing issues with students just listing what they did and not coupling to the standard or characteristic- instead of “Megan can make buffers” should be something like “Megan demonstrated lab safety and development of new techniques by learning how to properly prepare buffers.”

• I should make examples of good and bad vitae sentences

• We have a a seismometer from CalTech but our contact is gone,

• project involved trying to set up a fiberoptic seismometer

• Used to go to elementary school on their all school meeting day to do a presentation, we should start doing that again next year

• For hydroponics, we should look at the range of salinities experienced in the San Juaquin valley- take pics of cellular damage, publish asap if we see differences

• maybe also do taste tests of plants grown at different salinities?

• I want to go through and take pics of all the old posters in our pile…will do after classes are out

• borrowed a compound microscope with an optical camera from Anne Marie

• chatted with Scott about how Wildwood does grades for a bit

• Dr. BH stopped by to mention we need to have a sit-down with all WISRD folks to make sure we don’t miss anything in the transition

22.5.17

• Installed Virtual Box and a virtual drive with Ubuntu to learn Linux via Codecademy

• Very upsetting results in the LGBTIQ+ survey, need to really think about how to make sure everyone is feeling safe next year. Also applies to any race issues and other microaggressions I might be overlooking

• Curious about WISRD-wide group gatherings- is there a tradition of this? We should do something to bring all three class periods together, beyond just poster sessions

• talk to H and E about this…

• Sat in on some performance reviews to see how Joe handles them

• students update CVs with current work

• Joe gets CVs at least 2 days in advance of appointment, makes comments, gives students time to review comments

• students struggle with integrating old and current work

• students might say they did something, learned, or improved…but do not necessarily say why or how- need evidence, or to write it so that the reader can make the judgement call

• interesting conversation about PI responsibilities vs being a “boss”

• are PIs held to a different standard in review?

• should I make a wizard CV doc to act as an example?

• appointments are in 15 minute increments, but might not be enough time, especially with PIs

• three ways of citation in WISRD

• inline (Noel)- where is the year?? Need to start using it, establishes when definitions were established as well as when data was presented.

• footnote in each page

• footnote at end of document

• students might write about unpublished work apologetically, need to use more confident language

• lots of big fat claims- need documentation

• suggestions for students: brain dump (even talk to text) for journals, refine a journal entry for tweet, refine several tweets/journal entries for white papers, refine tweets/journals with data analysis for papers

22.5.16

To do today:

• Work with Marley on Jetson file to allow USB 3.0- needed to find the code to make the extlinux.config be Jenson specific

• Read/edit papers in progress

• Chance

• Honor

• Sid/Roman?

• Pictures taken at 10

• talked to Bob and Joe about cosmic ray stuff

• would be interesting in the future to think about weather-related projects- can we predict bad air days, or wildfire conditions, or changes in marine layer…

• brainstormed with Anne Marie about mushroom projects for next year.

22.5.12

• started PHP codecademy course (not done with Linux but will go back and forth)

• talked to Joe and Scott about Inquirer process a little

• Joe taught me about accessing the VNC servers on WISRD wifi and outside

• 198.101.120.77:(whatever port) for when off WIRSD network

• 192.168.168.(number:port) for when on WISRD network

• some arduinos/pis have issues- e.g. the hydroponics one should be on .77 but seems to be on .78; either way, no one can access outside of WISRD wifi- do we need to add an exception to the Wildwood firewall?

• downloaded a better VNC viewer

• recommended to new board Director to create something about expectations/duties/responsibilities etc for new board members

• helped Honor find papers on studies referenced in a general audience article

• maybe do a seminar on how to search for papers/researchers?

• Maybe talk to PIs/Board about collaborative software for project planning, such as Miro- talk to Addy about what she recommends

• Max of hydroponics liked the idea, maybe I’ll use his recent email as a proof of concept

• can the boards send announcements to users when updates are made?

22.5.11

• Continued and completed Codecademy course on navigating the command line, started course on Linux

• need to read current iteration of the Inquirer, sent from Scott (could open after Patter invited me to the file)

• has wrong logo- wildwood vs wisrd- need to make our logo transparent so I can put it in

• still not super happy with it, maybe it needs to be white instead of gray, or reflected in the water?

• design team not happy with our notes

• board meeting at lunch, elected a new Director, Program Manager, and Treasurer

22.5.9

• Started Codecademy classes on JavaScript and navigating the command line

• Think about for next year- not spending time outside of class time on WISRD things, ideally a couple of students could have been looking at the radio telescope data for the last couple of days and could have at least the start of a paper on the variation in data

• Maybe I can create a writing flow chart for students, to emphasize the importance of recording information? Started one here.

• Finished the list of journals by project.

22.5.6

• Continuing to work on indexing journals by topic

• Next year, show successful science tweeters (e.g. Kathryn Turner)

• About publications

• White papers -> circulate in lab

• research journals/technology papers-> publish outside of lab

• Inquirer -> general audience

22.5.5

I’m back! So sore from moving.

• website backups failed, but it is most likely because our storage is full- the solution is to go and delete all back ups except for the last day of the month. In theory we should find a place on our server to store the files. After deleting redundant backups, the backup worked.

• Some students are working on writing performance reviews- taking each standard and writing a third person narrative about how they met it.

• For new students, or at the start of the year, I could meet with students to go over each standard and how they will/can meet it?

• Maybe have a rubric with the standards?

• I’m thinking about creating tutorial videos on scientific writing, using Excel, etc…

• Maybe start doing writing workshops next year? They used to do them, with the writing consultant (this person is a research-level science writer, does not always understand what we are looking for; for example, may have dissuaded some students from continuing a project because she told them they did not have enough data to do statistics, and therefore had done no science- maybe true for research level, but not high school, we can publish papers with minimal data as examples of work)

• have examples of successful vs unsuccessful writing samples

• maybe consider a format for struggling writers-

• Today I

• I noticed

• I wonder

• I need

• Next time I will

• asked Joe if there has been an apprentice class, perhaps just to learn skills if nothing else, has ever happened- yes, but then middle school elective schedule changed. Mostly skill building- they did coding, 3d printing, arduino; built a working, mini stop light, then had to calculate when the light changed based on speed of a “little old lady” crossing the road.

• looked at radio telescope data with Joe, who taught me how to correlate to Stellarium (which I now have on my laptop; free resource!)- peaks in hydrogen correlate to an arm of the galaxy rather than the center.

• Currently our radio telescope is pointed 140ish azimuth (x axis kind of) and 40ish altitude (y axis)

• to find center of galaxy, look for the Teapot (part of Sagittarius)

• remember that the radio telescope gives data in GMT, while Stellarium adjusts to local time- make adjustments when making correlations

• Would love to have a spreadsheet with everyone’s expertise things (question, 3 people working on it, 3 places it is being studied, papers) as an introduction to everyone’s work

• Updated website- old server was wwisrd, because the Navy owned wisrd- but then a few years ago they gave it up and Joe was able to get it. However, old links still had the wwisrd.org so I used the Better Search Replace plugin on WordPress to replace all instances of wwisrd with wisrd. So far it seems to have worked.

• Maybe I should make a list for each project, of old journals so that current/new students have it all in once place.

22.4.29

• Uploaded pics from poster session

• installed Arduino software on my laptop

• helped with radio telescope by taking pictures of data when Joe pointed the telescope at different angles, complied pics into a document and sent in email with list of frequencies of noise (raw pics are here).

22.4.25

Poster session day! Came in at lunch so I could stay late for it without having to worry about going home to let my dog out.

Helped Joe move tables, set up posters, etc. We used the hallways (15 posters) and the room (4 posters- 2 hydroponics, 1 CAD group, 1 cosmic ray group). Here are some set up photos:

In the lab, we hung posters behind the wind tunnel space (once it was in the hall), on the cabinet (for CAD group so they were close to the 3D printer), behind the ceramic printer (once it was out in the hall as well- ran some while the RoCCs groups talked about their methods), and on the whiteboard (once it was cleaned). **Note that we can’t hang stuff on the glass of WII!! Also be aware of which walls can get tacks/staples vs which can only have painters tape.

Joe gave a pep talk before the session (note- can I get them food next time? Or will it distract from set up? Ask Joe.)

Turn out was great! Photos from the session:

Final event- talk by Dr. Marc Buie from Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, CO, as introduced by Ian as Director of Board. HTMI cord had a couple issues at the beginning but then it was fine. Plugging sound into PA system seemed to help? Maybe, could have been coincidence.

Also, student signed a poster for Joe’s birthday, Ian presented it to Joe after the talk. Very cute.

Going to take a few days off for moving reasons!

22.4.22

• chatted with Scott about the Inquiry process, definitely want to be a part of the editing process this year if possible

• I tested the buffers- pH 4 buffer is being read as 4.22, pH 7 buffer is 7.10, and ph 10 buffer is 10.8. Need to read about if this is a probe calibration issue or just how the buffers tend to read. It should only be +/- 0.02 so the probe is probably reading high

• looks like the group has contacted Vernier about calibrating their probe (4/25/22, saw it up on the computer)

• learned more about arduino and electronics in general

22.4.21

• next week i want to start mapping the room and figuring out what stuff is and what it is for

• take pics of space, make excel sheet with contents

• looked over Tobey’s poster, made some scientific language edits

• taught Izze how to make buffers that are used to calibrate the coral group’s pH probe.

• made pH 4, 7, and 10 buffers using Vernier kit, and added color/mold prevention drops

• Vernier sent their buffer kit as premeasured tablets of enough buffer to make 100ml/tablet; very interesting, but a bit of a learning curve to not spill it everywhere. Best method: open over a beaker with some distilled water already in it (to help with dissolving, so the dry chemical doesn’t end up sticking to the glass).

• Izze tested the pH 4 buffer we made from scratch with chemicals, it read on the probe as 4.16

• Izze tested the pH 7 buffer made from the Vernier kit, it read as 7.16

• I remade all three buffers and Izze will test them.

• Helped Nnenna tap through 2 more parts

• dropped the microdrill!! Broke the drill bit- ordered a new one.

22.4.20

Senior skip day…

Things to do or that got done:

• finalized brochure and sent to Joe for printing

• Helped Zeniyah with microsoldering

• board would like a list of things I have expertise and experience in, so I created a google doc.

• I should make a list of things I’d like to implement next year, and have board review and approve/amend

• biweekly lab meetings by group- pick a time (lunch, outside via zoom, etc) and stick to it

• no interruption of classes! If you need to borrow something from a science teacher and they are teaching, make a new plan.

• Scribit board for announcements- check when you come in!

• clearer division of spaces- no wood work on white tables, only food at white tables and not where else because chemicals might be in use, etc.

• “write it down or it doesn’t count!” memories are fallible, everything must be documented

• yes, that means everyone writes- no more “that’s not my part of it” for writing. Each person might not be a final author of a white paper, but everyone must record what they do

• have PIs be more interactive with group members about deadlines, poster sessions, etc. (since pe

• ople did not seem to be noticing blackboard messages from Joe)

22.4.19

Website upkeep:

• Uploaded updated constitution and bylaws

General things:

• asked about microsoldering “class”- involves Joe setting something up with them for me

• created poster session advertising poster- worried it is too busy and cursive font is too bulky

• helped Joe take newly built radio telescope (in faraday cage) to roof

• helped Izze with buffer math- will need to gather materials tomorrow for her to make the buffer on Thursday

• to do from board meeting:

• talk to CAD group about putting our builds into SCAD or OnShape (wind tunnel, radio telescope, etc)

• systems integration on website??

• think of way to put expertise information on website or a google doc, so it is in a place everyone in group can access/edit/add to

• think about ways to tell students not to touch things that are not a part of their project

• learn:

• lathe

• laser cutter

• CNS

• think about how space is used- can it be maximized? we need more workspaces

• skill building things (that i should know!)

• arduino

• coding

• tinkercad

22.4.18

Attended board retreat- see notes here.

22.4.15

Removed the nail polish layer on the leaves of lettuce for hydroponics, and put on slides

Took some pictures for the brochure, etc.:

• Met Laura in visual/3d art- will be talking more about collaborating on ceramics

• back up happened correctly last night- if we ever get another error, I will send to sam@emails.backup-guard.com

• Met Sabrina- middle school math- loves hydroponics, would love to see a living wall

• talked to Liza about cross collaboration with Matt about hydroponics kits- we design, Matt’s people market/make it nice, Liza’s people put in title 1 schools

• working on updated brochure

For hydroponics group:

• Want to do a test run on leaf microscopy- gave materials to Ridley

• borrowed slides and coverslips from Christine

• will remove the nail polish layer at 4:10 for group, either mount on slide right away or will put somewhere for them

• do we need to get a microscope camera?? Yes. Or ask bio if they have/need one

• Chloe Savard (@tardibabe on instagram) uses a “Motic BA310 Elite compound microscope with oblique illumination and an iPhone 11 Pro mounted on a specialized adaptor” (from paper on visualizing cladocerans)

• Wonder if we should think about root visualization, since that is where the contact with salt water happens

• Joes mentioned that USDA protocol just looks at quantifiable roots and shoots data, but if we could show that qualifiable (or even quantifiable) cellular visualization would be valuable, that would be pretty great.

22.4.14

Had planned to come in today after viewing an apartment at 10:30, but due to a shooting on the 405, traffic from the Valley was so bad that this and other appointments for the day were pushed back so much that I could not come in at all!

Joe sent me an old brochure, I will update it and I will update it with current projects- want to have this done for the board retreat on Monday to get their approval, then have printed and ready for poster session on 4/25

22.04.13

General:

• chatted with Joe about SEM

• checked in with Anne Marie about access to stereo microscope and material

• asked Tim about buffer materials- missing some chemicals (specifically potassium dihydrogen phosphate) so better to order the buffer premade, but will want to have at least one learning experience where students in coral group make their buffers

• site maintenance:

• backup worked, for some reason, so Joe updated WordPress

• I sent our backup log to sam@emails.backup-guard.com through wetransfer.com to see if he can figure out our

• need to send back up logs to BackupGuard to figure out why we kept getting timeout errors

• Upgrade of wordpress gave me access to BackupGuard? Joe logged in for me.

• we will need to have all jwise emails to forward to me

• need to fix one of the pictures on splash page

• cannot access google docs via WISRD server, need to find out where the authors are storing their work

• every 30 days, students have to change passwords for security purposes-

• on server active directory users and computers, right click on user name, then reset password- must be 8 characters, alphanumeric

• started looking into classes to fill in my informational gaps

• coursera course: the arduino platform and C programing

• uses online arduino web editor (arduino IDE), created account (user name is mnoel)

3D printer maintenance

• 3d printer through an E18 error- happens when the two nozzles do not seem to align. To fix, turn off and on, then extrude ink- noticed a weird indentation/scrape on ink, happens when it doesn’t extrude properly, then motor made a weird noise…

• motor for one ink started making a very weird noise, so Joe is opening up its motor box to look at it- maybe it is fixed

For coral group:

• figure out what we need to have on hand to make our own buffers

• advantage of buying premade buffer is we will not need to autoclave materials (just kidding, this buffer is just for pH probe, not for coral polyps specifically)

• to make buffers, you need:

• graduated cylinders

• scale

• weigh boats

• chemicals- need to figure out what buffer they are using…

• erlenmeyer flasks

• parafilm (to prevent evaporation); or sealable containers such as these

• scoopulas/small spatulas

• Took 3D printed coral structure to St. Monica High School where it will be put in a tank that is monitored for temperature (with our probe, see below)

• also working on pH probe

• St. Monica K. Griffis (marine bio teacher, runs their MORA lab) would love alkalinity and calcium monitoring, but there is overlap with probes- a couple (all?) use electrical signal to get data, so can’t run at same time

Probe in tank, connected and sending data. Need to calibrate to their thermometer (in case our equation is off; was the thermister tested in fresh or salt water??); we also need to make a case so it vents out the sides, not the top, to protect Arduino from water deposition- talk to CAD group?
Cover for the camera, showing that is it protected from splash.

For hydroponics group:

• need figure out what we need on hand to do leaf microscopy

• want to talk to hydroponics groups- what is their end goal?

• we can do several kinds of microscopy: gross (stereoscope, can see stomata numbers? check methods and papers), fine (stereoscope- can we see cells? Is that diagnostic? need to research), and superfine (TEM- talk to microscope society. This might be too fine or finicky for what we need, but also might lead to future project off shoots).

• I feel like I read about stomatal conductance?? Need to look into this…

For prosthetics group:

• continued working on increasing hole size on part- brought in a t-pin which helped

• not sure how big Nnenna needs it, so stopping for now

22.04.12

Today I worked on:

• helped Canada with calibrating/troubleshooting the emotiv

• started helping Nnenna with boring hole in piece- did not have enough space as printed

• chatted briefly with a member of the hydroponics group about considering microscopy of cells in their current crops to look for cellular damage

• met Christine (Bio?), Tim (Chem- will talk to me later about an environmental collaboration), Erika (Theatre), Anne Marie (also bio?)

• background reading on cosmic rays, brain waves, and vegetable salinity stress.

• site maintenance:

• Research Groups page lost all photo contents and links, and the link to this page was lost from the top menu bar, so this had to be fixed.

• all instances of “http” were replaced using the Better Search Replace, to instead be “https,” but we did not consider that this would lead to all instances of “https” already on the site becoming “httpss” so this had to be fixed

Traffic gets worse in a nonlinear fashion- leaving at 7:00 vs. 7:15 lead to a 30 minute difference in when I got here from the Valley.

22.04.11

First day of COO shadowing/training!