Genomics of the Indoor Air Environment

Most of our life is spent in indoors, well-buffered from the constant changes in temperature, humidity, wind and light which shape life outside our homes and offices. It seems intuitive that the types of microorganisms which inhabit our indoor environment must be different from those on the...

Sorcerer II back at Sea!

June 13th 2010 After we collected and processed the sample from Blanes on May 26th we dropped off the collaborators on the dock, and set sail for France. After a overnight sail we reached our last Spanish sample site, it is in Spanish waters but monitored by French scientist. CTD...

The Re-Sampling of Blanes By Karolina Ininbergs

May 26th 2010 After docking in Barcelona and picking up Jeff, who just finished the lake sampling with Chris up in the Pyrenees, we headed north-east towards Blanes Bay. We were also joined by Bea Diez, her PhD student Roy McKenzie, Meri Antó and Vanessa Balague from ICM, Barcelona. It was...

BBMO — Blanes Bay Microbial Observatory

May 25th 2010 In 2008 I spent three months working at the Institute of Marine Sciences in Barcelona, hosted by Beatriz Diez in the Marine Microbiology group, headed by Carles Pedrós-Alió. One of the many microbial research projects at ICM is focused on environmental monitoring of...

Tourist Time in Barcelona!

May 20th 2010 After two weeks on the road, I am back on Sorcerer II as we prepare for the Mediterranean sampling season. We are docked in Port Olympic right in the heart of Barcelona. One aspect of this year's blogs is to share some of the experiences and places we get to visit. We are...

The Great Blizzard Sample of Lake Redon!

May15th 2010 We decided to do the 3 lakes in the Banyoles area first because the weather in the Pyrenees was so bad that we wouldn't have been able to get up the mountain to sample Lake Redon. Lake Redon is a pristine Alpine lake that is sampled weekly by Spanish researchers. On Tuesday May...

Lake Vilar, The Final Lake In Banyoles

May 10th 2010 On Monday May 10th we headed back to sample the last lake in the Banyoles area. Lake Vilar is another meromictic lake located about 1 kilometer (1/2 mile) from Lake Siso and has a maximum depth of 10 meters (32 feet). Sulfide is present during the entire year, although...

Sampling of Lake Banyoles, The Home of the Olympic Rowing in 1992

May 9th 2010 Sunday May 9th was a much better morning than the previous one. Emilio had taken us out to one of the best dinners I have ever eaten, plus the German teenagers were no longer patrolling the hallways all night long. So after a great seafood dinner and a good nights rest we drove...

Lake Sampling Starts with Lake Siso, Global Lake Sampling (GLS)

May 8th 2010 Early on Saturday May 8th Chris and I headed to the University of Girona, which is located about 69 kilometers (42 miles) from Blanes, to setup our sampling gear in a aboratory on campus. We were a bit exhausted from the long drive the day before and lack of sleep due to lots of...

Hair claimed to belong to Leonardo da Vinci to undergo DNA testing

Critics, however, argue that this effort is flawed from the beginning

Students learn about genomics, a life in science, at J. Craig Venter Institute