All good things must come to an end
This week we packed up the lab and returned to our respective homes.
Katie's home in Georgia
Jenine's home inside of a goblin shark in Brooklyn
Zach's charming suburban NJ home
I write now from the sanctuary of my bed — there is nothing like submerging yourself in blankets to feel at home. No longer will I fall asleep wondering why my ancient apartment mattress is purring. (My theory is that there is a family of raccoons nesting inside of it. Throughout the summer I would occasionally wake up and find that chunks of my hair had been chewed off…)
Raccoons aside, this summer has been a supreme experience and exceeded all expectations, both in the company I had in lab and with the Haverford summer community at large.
The culmination of this summer was our lab retreat to Patrick Lodge in Rothrock State Forest, PA.
Not shown: evangelical christian summer camp next door
When we were not busy fending off bears by using Misha as a human shield, each member of the lab presented a slideshow detailing their goals, methods, data, results, and future directions for their project.
Our fearless leader looks for cell service
In our free time, we made pizza, ate enough snack food to feed a small third world country, and went on a hiking trip which met it’s unfortunate and unspeakable end in a port-a-potty, in a parking lot, in a swamp.
As far as chemistry goes (is that what this blog is about?!), we have made some awesome discoveries in the world of macromolecular organic aerosol material. This includes some exciting evidence for the possibility of aerosol macromolecules coming from marine sediments, a finding we hope to publish alongside the GCMS data we have generated from our sequential degradation.
Here is a picture of something chemistry related to appease Helen:
Sarah removes elemental sulfur from her oxidation extracts with an activated copper column
And on that note I leave you until we return to lab in the fall. In the mean time, stay hydrated, eat popsicles, and ALWAYS keep a roll of toilet paper in your car.