We've been really busy this first week and today (Sunday) is my first day off.
On Monday, we met with Dr. Pavao-Zuckerman (my mentor and program director), the other mentors, and Biosphere staff, went over the summer schedule, and talked about conferences. They are providing funding for travel to one conference and encourage that we look for funding to present at other conferences as well. I won't have to think about applying to present at a conference until the end of the summer, but it's exciting to imagine I'll have the chance to present about green roof research. The American Geophysical Union (AGU) hosts the largest worldwide conference in geophysical research, and this year it is from Dec 5-9th in San Francisco. Good excuse to skip out on some school days to travel! Since my research will be focusing on the soil dynamics of green roofs, my research is relevant and hopefully my research abstract will be accepted.
We were treated to lunch and another (my third) tour of the Biosphere. Since we were led by program directors, we were able to explore deeper into the Biosphere. This time, I was able to walk through the rainforest and the sandy beach and explore the basement of the Biosphere 2. My friends tagged me in some pictures, and you can see us in the rainforest!
The Ocean-Unfortunately, we have a bit of an algae problem-we may be able to get permission to swim in it if we clean out the algae!
Tuesday was a really easygoing day and we had the day off to get dressed in our new Biosphere 2 uniforms and take pictures. After that we made our way to the grocery store and supply shopping.
Up at 6 am! Here comes Wednesday, the first day of the GRE prep course. We took the one-hour drive from the Biosphere 2 to the University of Arizona and arrived early for our 8 am course. Immediately, we took a practice test which lasted over and hour and then talked about the general setup of the test and what test day would be like. We ended up finishing early at 11:30am and stayed on campus for lunch with Dr. Pavao-Zuckerman (Dr. P) and toured the U of A campus. After the tour, the group split up, and I had some time to talk with Dr. P about project ideas. The desert changes dramatically after the monsoons come (around early July), and we talked about measuring the response of the green roof plants, microbes, and soils to the increase in rainfall. Since the rainfall contains a different chemical composition than does regular well/irrigation water, the rainfall may cause different changes in the plants than would an artificial increase in irrigation. We would measure microbial respiration (how the microbes are taking up and releasing carbon dioxide) and by taking pictures with a special camera, would will measure changes in plant growth and color (measuring color changes by taking pictures in infrared).
Later that evening on Wednesday, we checked out the local Tuscon Ultimate Frisbee league. One of the girls, Pin, plays for her school and was hoping to play for a league this summer. She researched leagues and found a local team. I watched for a bit and then was ready to get playing. It's a pretty intense group..they have specific offensive strategies like vertical and horizontal "stacking"which I don't understand exactly so next time I play I'll have to try to explain it. All the 40+ league members will very welcoming and understanding of all skill levels so I felt comfortable playing. I caught all the frisbees that were thrown to me while in the game, but I had a hard time passing will such an intense defense all over me.We stayed until 9:30 and then made it back to the Biosphere 2 at 11. Such a long day but a great one!
After a late night Wednesday, we woke again early for the second day of prep class. The teacher, Michael Flynn, is great. He used to work for ETS, the company that produces the GRE and has worked on admissions committees so he knows how the test is put together, what to focus on, what resources are useful, and how to study. On Thursday, we focused on the verbal which is pretty much a vocab test. He showed us some tactics to use when we are really stuck on a verbal problem, which is usually an analogy. The test will compare two words and you have to figure out the relationship between the two words and find another analogy from the 5 answer choices that shares the same relationship. The hard part is that they use words that you never hear of so its hard to figure out the original relationship, but he gave us a list of root words to focus on and tactics that help identify the polarity of words-whether it is a positive or negative word. Another big thing-the first 15-20 questions on the GRE are the most important. If you do well on those, you get into the 700-800 club and then the next ten fine-tune your score and decide whether your score is a 730 or 750. So I learned to take my time! I usually rush to finish, but with this test, it's much better to get the first questions correct then complete the entire test. Of course, you want to finish the entire thing, but if you need the time in the beginning, take it!
On Friday, we focused on the math section which happens to be much easier than SAT math. After class, we hung out on campus until the pool party started at 5:30 pm. Dr. P, program directors, and members of the other 10 internships were there. We snacked on catered food and desserts and then laid by the pool for the rest of the evening. I've met some of the other interns that belong to other programs, and most of them are from Latin American countries. We talk in Spanish for most of the time as I struggle to understand, and then we switch to English when they want to practice. I've met people from Mexico and Columbia.
Yesterday, we attended class from 8-3pm, got some ice cream, went to a Harry and the Potters concert (yes, they played wizard rock all about Harry Potter), and then had some Mexican.
Have to go pick up the last intern from the airport!
Love you guys,
Sara
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