skip to main content

REBECCA VARNEY

  • News
  • Research
  • Outreach
  • About Me
  • Resources
  • News
  • Research
  • Outreach
  • About Me
  • Resources

News        

LA BioBlitz: On the shoulders of giants (and nerds)

9/2/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
A kinorhynch, which looks kind of like a shrimp with no legs and a spiky face, except microscopic.
Picture
“There may be explosions next week. And watch out for the raccoon.”

I stand in a musty warehouse on the docks of Los Angeles, in view of cranes and adjacent to water that reflects opalescent colors with skims of oil. Every spigot outdoors warns “do not drink”, and the asphalt floor has been painted and repainted so many times to guide different vehicles that there are practically rainbows … under the grime. This is, in other words, the last place you would expect cutting edge scientific research to take place. And yet that is what we were there to do.

The BioBlitz was an event that brought a team of taxonomists together, experts on different groups of bizarre animals, to catalogue as much of the life in a place as possible. We were marine invertebrate biologists, so we were in LA not for the whales and sea lions but for the strange creatures hiding under the rocks on the shore or in the sands deep in the ocean. Each of us had a group of ocean weirdos that we loved the most, and we were there to share our passion with one another as we chronicled the life that LA’s port coast has to offer. In practice, a BioBlitz is a room full of nerds and geeks talking to crabs and worms the way most people talk to puppies. Heaven, really.

I was thrilled to bring some meiofauna forward from mud samples. The highlight of the experience was showing several scientists their first live specimens of more than one PHYLUM!

Now that I'm home, I have exciting days ahead to make some new kinorhynch slides for my personal collection (oh yes, I have one) and wait for some hand injuries to heal before I can code. :)

0 Comments

    Archives

    March 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018

Contact Us

UA Logo
Equal Opportunity | UA Disclaimer | Site Disclaimer | Privacy | Copyright © 2017
 The University of Alabama | Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 | (205) 348-6010