Yesterday was a sort of orientation day. We went snorkling over the reef, and we spotted a flying gurnard - a very cool, large fish that has huge fins that it uses to scare up little critters like shrimp to eat.Today my group did the molecular ecology module. We were introduced to DNA barcoding, a technique that molecular biologists have developed that can potentially have huge implications to the ecological field. It's a constantly changing area that some cool possibilities in the future - we'll see how things develop. Then we learned how to isolate DNA sequences, PCR (polymerase chain reaction), and gel electrophoresis. We used insects we collected yesterday on a walk we talk around the immediate area. We all used various parts of various insects, and were mostly successful in isolating the targetted DNA sequence and amplifying it with PCR.
The food here is great, today was BBQ chicken and mac and cheese, and yesterday was mahi mahi. YUM!
Thanks to Emily and Bassel for letting me post their pictures. The bird is a black grackle on our compound.
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