The Conference

This week has been very busy in some ways, and very slow in others. For the past few months, the graduate students in the lab have been preparing a poster and presentation for a conference where they will have the opportunity to showcase their research and network among other researchers. This is quite a large event and requires a great deal of preparation.

Monday was a slow day because everyone in the lab was putting the final touches on their posters. I went down to the operations office to check on the status of my safety registration. Currently, I am still waiting on an email containing the safety materials required by the University. Once I finish this course, I will be cleared to handle tissue samples.

Tuesday brought a bit more hands on experience. The research done in this lab requires a large amount of SDS buffer solution. This being said, there was only a liter of buffer solution left. My job was to mix enough buffer solution to fill the empty bottles. To mix the buffer solution, I poured one part 5X SDS and four parts water into a 2-liter beaker. After mixing the solution I poured it into the individual bottles and relabeled the dates that they were created on. Although simple, this task was time consuming because I had to mix roughly 10 liters of buffer solution.

Thursday was the final day before the graduate students left for the conference. I spent the day helping them get everything together. My main job was picking up copies from the printer. Although little research was done this week, it was full of preparation for the conference.