After I collect the samples...

One question I have been asked about this project is, "What exactly do you do with your samples?"

Well, there are two main steps the water and soil samples go through before they are ready to be sent to the sequencing lab.

In this lab note I will share with you the first step the water samples go through.

After one day of sample collecting I leave with 3 L's of water 1 L from oyster reef, 1 L from mud bottom and 1 L from Hunts Point Park. Back at the lab water samples are filtered.

Here is the filtration system set up and ready to go.

 

Each 1 L is split in half (500 mL). The clarity of the water will effect the amount of time it takes the water to filter through. The vacuum the one armed flask is connected to is set to create a slow - medium pace drip. Check out my water samples filtering!

 

The point of this step is to filter the eDNA out of the water. Once the water has filtered through all the way, the filter looks like this-->

 

Yes, there is eDNA on this filter! The filter is then transferred into a PowerWater Bead Tube and kept in a -20 degree C freezer until DNA isolation process. Stay Tuned for details on other steps!

Thank You all for supporting me and my research!

Sincerely a young researcher,

Irena Werner