Corine Samaras's Research Experiences for Undergraduates, Summer 2012 - Part 1

Hello Science World,

My name is Corine Samaras and I am going to be a senior at Florida State University. I was fortunate enough to be chosen to work with the Deep-C Consortium as an undergraduate this summer.

I will be spending this summer under the mentorship of Dr. Markus Huettel, an oceanographer here at FSU. I will be preparing my research in the basement of the Rogers (Oceanography/Statistics) Building on the FSU campus. I have already begun conducting an experiment on the aerobic decomposition of MC252 crude oil in Gulf of Mexico sediments. I will be preparing eight columns, four of which are filled with saturated sand (control) and four of which will be filled with sand and a little bit of oil (experimental). A peristaltic pump will be used to control water flow through the cores. I will be using an optode to measure the oxygen concentration at the entry and exit of each column. In the end I will hopefully be able to calculate the oxygen consumption rate caused by the oil, which will be used as proxy for the aerobic oil degradation rate.

Here is one piece of my setup.

Equipment to measure the oxygen concentration.

I have already learned so much from just starting the experiment and cannot wait to learn more. I have been given the opportunity to meet talented grad students and professors who are working on very important research. I look forward to continuing my work in the weeks to come and hope for good, clear results.

Post Author:
Corine Samaras