Day 4

Day 4
Last night we had Thai food. Yum. Almost as good as the Asian Cafe.

We worked hard today! I started my day working with Tara. Tara is setting up an experiment to look at two types of trees in three different environments. She is trying to see the effect varying the nutrients has on the tree's natural defense mechanisms. (Wow what a sentence.) So Noreen and I measured out specific amounts of phosphate, potassium, and nitrogen to be added to the trees. Then we went to the greenhouse (a greenhouse in New Orleans is VERY hot in the middle of the day!) and prepared 90 pots to plant the trees in.

After lunch we worked with Clark measuring the length of various Arthropods. You see, here at Tulane we are working with Dr. Lee Dyer's graduate students. They are all working on various projects related to Dr. Dyers work. You all know that Dr. Dyer is not a medical doctor right? He has a Phd. degree. That gives him the "Dr."
Why were we measuring the length of bugs? Well, if you have the average size of a bug, and know about how many bugs there are, you can get a good estimate of the total bug biomass. ( pounds of bugs!) Clark works with alfalfa crops ... trying to keep the pests out and the alfalfa in. There should be a video on this on Teacher Tube later.
When we finished our day in the lab, well OK I'll tell you. I went to the pool. It was mid80's and they have an outdoor pool here at Tulane University. It is a beautiful university if in 4 years any of you are considering going out of state. If you are into music this is the town for you... jazz, funk, lots. Has Ms. Buzy been to New Orleans?
Tonight we are supposed to be going out to dinner at a restaurant that serves "local" fare. Alligator?? We'll see.