Aberystwyth!

I haven't updated in a while because I've been away on two biology field trips, and I decided that telling you about them would be a swell way to get back into the swing of things. My compulsory biology field trip went to Aberystwyth and the optional went to the exotic Ecuador and Galapagos. 

I found Aberystwyth useful, fun and informative. We spent a week sampling and analysing data during the day, and attending lectures in the evenings. The sampling was fun, but I thought it was also very interesting because it gave us all an idea of what it would be like if we were to go into a job that required raw data to be gathered outside of a laboratory – in chemistry (particularly organic) or biology there are many jobs which need someone to go out and sample.

We took our samples and we assessed them for:

·         Indicator species

·         Oxygen content (Winklers test)

·         pH

·         Temperature

·         Nitrate concentration

·         Nitrite concentration and others

We also took transects along certain areas (mainly the shoreline) to get an idea of zonation and repeated this in a number of locations to show how the external conditions (exposed or sheltered rocky shore) could influence the species living there.

The teachers emphasised the need for everyone to use the same methodology so reliable results could be obtained and also for everyone to be as precise as possible. We then gathered all the results together and collated them to get a much larger picture of the area we were looking at. I already knew that there were some species which only lived when conditions of pollution were particularly high, and you could use these as a basic measure of how clean the water is, but I didn’t realise that the presence of other species which thrive in polluted water would be used as an indication that the water quality was fairly poor. 

The lectures in the evening were a bit tiring (lectures went on until 9/9:30, we had to be up at 6:30 to get ready for the day) but very interesting. One evening the teachers showed us a video of a man who wanted countries to put a price on the value of the ecology and environment so that he could show businessmen and women how much the environment was worth financially, to get them behind conservation and supporting the environment. I thought that this was a fascinating idea and I hope it works.

We stayed in university halls, and I really enjoyed the camaraderie and the whole experience of being slightly more independent. 

I also thought that I’d take the time to mention that I have work experience organised at a care home (two weeks! Very excited!), I’m in the process of talking to another hospice as the last one I contacted fell through, and I’m also pleased to mention I may be volunteering with the Berks, Bucks and Oxfordshire Air Ambulance trust!