We have been busy getting ready for fall semester since the last post. We have tons of pictures to load from our Flower Gardens trip but no time in which to do it. I will hopefully be able to slowly edit a post together when I have free time (What? That's unheard of!)
So far it's data analysis and writing for now, so no new happenings in the lab.We have a lot of student coming into the lab this semester, so we hope to have new projects up and running soon (and hopefully more posts). There is a Sclero class this semester so we should have some new stories from the class as well. We did get in some modern shells for the Peru project. Currently they are sitting in the lab stinking. Fire ant beds here we come!
I figured out that the fire ant bed cleaning technique works really well when living at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama. I found a freshly dead shell and knew it would stink up my dorm room. At the same time I really wanted to keep the shell. I happened to think of dropping my shell in a fire ant bed while I walked back to my dorm room from the R/V A. E. Verrill. The next morning when I went to breakfast I happend to check the ant bed and my shell was perfectly clean! Besides no one would steal my awesome shell and risk fire ant bites. Simply knock the ants of in grass, using a fork, a stick, gloves, or what ever you have on hand, and procede to have an awesome shell and a great morning! Don't forget to stir up the ants with a stick or grass to insure that they find your treasure when you drop it off for cleaning.
Until cleaning it is suggested that one does not open the bag of shells unless one wants to have a really bad day and possibly make the entire lab a hazmat area. With fire ants there is no worry of any alterations to the geochemical signal since the shell is not subject to chemical alteration or baking. I find it's a win-win situation: ants get food, and you get an awesome shell! I have noticed since moving to Baton Rouge that there are less fire ants than in Alabama. This is both great and weird at the same time. It may actually take finding a fire ant bed to carry out this cleaning project. Either that or a forest of air fresheners in the lab.
We hope to post again... at some point... in the near future. We have a backlog of topics to post on and plenty of pictures. If only I could get class credit for this.
