A Typical Day-- Week 5
Day-to-day in my lab is relatively routine.I arrive earlier than the other members of the team working on my project, and sort through the dozens of plates, in all different stages of growth, for contamination or any useful observations. I mark contaminated cultures and separate them from the rest, setting them aside to redo later that day. I check spore dilution plates-- coated with spores from original spore prints-- for enough growth to begin collecting single spore isolates and pick the SSIs from those that are ready. I check already existing SSIs for significant growth and record growth measurements for a different group each day.
By the time my mentor and the research fellow arrive, we figure out what needs to get done and split it up. We've been working with a tricky PCR, trying to get it to run well for a week by now, and are still trouble-shooting on that in the mornings. After lunch, I often check on the mushrooms we're trying to fruit in the greenhouses. If we are successful and fruiting bodies are growing, I collect them, photograph them and store them for spore prints. The next day, I take them home and cook them! On and off, I count spores with a microscope or help with bits of other people’s projects. In the late afternoon, I usually run a gel connected to that day's PCR test and check the results before leaving.
