iUTAH Undergraduate iFellows

 

Week 1 Recap

May 16-20, 2016

 

Joydino Beyale

My first week with iUTAH/iFellows, was very informative and was exciting to get to know the lovely people I will be working with.  They have shown me some skills in the laboratory and out in the field, most of all they have taught me about the tools on collecting data and researching. 

Heather Bottelberghe

Monday was the summer iFellows orientation. There I was able to officially meet the other iFellow interns who will be my peers for this summer. I also officially met the professor I will be doing my research with, Dr. Sarah Null (USU). The rest of the week involved getting set up in the Aquatic Habitat, Climate, and Water Analysis lab (ACWA) at Utah State University and initializing the first steps for our project. Andrew Hackett (another iFellow) and I worked together inputting existing data into ArcGIS to map out the canal system in Logan.

 

 

 

 

Katelyn Boyer

This week has been a learning experience. Monday was the orientation where we learned about the iFellow program and introduced ourselves to the other iFellows. Tuesday and Wednesday I spent the day reading papers that related to the research I will be doing this summer to gain a better understand of the research paper and other projects I need to accomplish for the iFellow program. Thursday I spent the day finishing up the homework for the next cohort session and analyzing the data that was collected earlier this year. Friday was spent researching more about the topic I will be doing my research project on this summer.

 

 

Todd Brown

This week was a big learning week and reviewing week. I went through the past Bear River Fellow’s work to organize and get myself oriented. I also met with Ayman Al Afifi to learn more about his work so I can learn how to apply it to my work. Lastly, I have been compiling a list of the different river widths for different sites we are working on, this includes the various transects we took with the ADCP.

 

 

Darcie Christensen

This week was spent mostly in literature review. On Monday, I had pretty much no idea what I was doing for the project. I met with my graduate mentor, Pratibha, on Tuesday and got a lot of background on the purpose of the project. It is mainly focused on the efficiency of plants and microbes in removing nitrogen from stormwater in bioretention systems. There’s not much about these systems being used in arid climates, so the purpose of this research is to give developers a better idea of how to effectively build a bioretention system in urbanized areas here in Utah.  I spent some time in the isotope lab being trained and weighing samples to be read using an Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (IRMS). These samples came from plants in the bioretention systems here on campus. The samples were harvested at various times last year. We’re aiming to get the percentage of nitrogen contained in each of the samples so as to determine the efficiency of native Utah plants in removing and assimilating nitrogen from the stormwater.

 

Georgie Corkery

With my mentor it has been decided that I will be working on three projects; 1) testing what lighting is best to grow crops with hydroponic systems and container gardening, 2) developing a cost effective hydroponic system or container gardening system that can be used by the general public, and 3) potentially looking at the feasibility of commercial urban agriculture farms, including water use, labor costs and hours, etc.

 

This week a fellow undergraduate student and I came up with the methodology for the first project and wrote up a budget request for the supplies that we will use. We decided to have three hydroponic pots of kale, three hydroponic pots of peppers, and three soil pots of peppers at each of our three location; indoors, in a greenhouse, and outdoors. So far we have planted all of our seeds, started recording input data, and solidified 3 locations.

 

Next week I look forward to creating a set of experiments for my second project and start testing what growing systems would work best for an at home container or hydroponic system. I have to have a budget written up and ready to submit by the end of next week.

I also connected with Frog Bench Farms to coordinate a tour of their farm and to discuss details of potentially using their farm as a case study for the third project. I am excited to see how they operate and if they will be a good fit for my research.

 

 

Cynthia Elliott

This week started with Orientation on Monday, which cleared up some questions. I got to meet with Dr. Brunson and my near-peer mentor, Taya, as well as my partner, Luis. They are all super nice and friendly. During this first week, we have gotten familiar with the building our lab is in, we also have been reading some articles to give us more background on our project. My favorite part of the week was when we went with a couple past iFellows to practice intercept interview methods in Ogden. Our first real survey assignment is on Saturday and I am really looking forward to it! 

 

 

 

 

Andrew Hackett

Right away, my team jumped into reading literature pertaining to the unique irrigation strategies of Logan to lay the groundwork for the research to come. It has been an exciting and busy week sorting through data and honing in on the scope of our projects. The campus is beautiful and the other students and faculty have been amazing! 

 

 

 

 

 

Greta Hamilton

The week started off with the iFellows orientation and then it was right out in the field to collect overland flow samples and soil/water samples. It was great to meet everyone and get right to sampling. The next few days were spent on campus learning protocols for the mercury lab and hydrology lab as well as my way around BYU. I have had to stop for directions at least a half dozen times.

 

 

 

 

 

Stacy Henderson

This week I met the people I will be working with over the summer. Dr. Joanna Endter-Wada, Enjie Li, and Dr. Shujuan Li. I got introduced to Enjie's research and learned about her ideas for how I could help her in that research.  I then read research papers that Enjie, Dr. Endter-Wada and Dr. Li had authored to get a better idea of what their research entails.  I read a chapter of a book written by Dr. Endter-Wada, and got started on my CITI certification.

 

Rebecca Lee

What a great start to iUTAH! This week started with orientation and then I began my research at BYU. I was oriented on my project and began to review the literature associated with microbial source tracking and its procedures. We went out and took some GAMUT water samples. It was interesting to see how the river changed along the urban gradient

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gabriela Martinez

My first week as an iFellow has been fantastic. Not only was I able to meet my mentor, Sarah Hinners, but also work next to my awesome near-peer mentor Pratiti Tagore every day at our lab. Our team is very small, which is great for me because it allows my team more time to answer all of my million questions. This week was all about brainstorming and learning more about conducting research. I was able to get started on the introduction portion of my poster project. I was also able to attend an iUTAH presentation on Wednesday and learn more about water related projects being conducted by graduate students. 

 

I feel grateful for this amazing opportunity and the great team I get to work with. I can't wait to see what next week brings!

 

 

Mitchell Steele

Had an introduction into the Utah Water Research Lab, and learned some of the techniques that we will be using to find metal content in water samples that we will be collecting throughout the summer. Later I designed a V-Notched weir that we can use to measure the flow from a curb cutout that leads to a bioretention bay.

 

 

 

 

 

Shanae Tate

This week has been full of learning and adjusting.  I have been reviewing lots of equations and concepts dealing with soil physics.  This has helped me learn how the sensors work and solidify my knowledge of what the data coming from those sensors represents.  Chris took me to see some of the aquatic sites in the Logan Watershed.  There I learned that the iUTAH data are sent via radio waves to the various universities.  I also learned about different instruments that measure stream flow.  I am excited to continue visiting these sites and learning about the data that they provide.

 

 

 

Luis Vidal

It has been an exciting first week. I got to meet the people I will be working with and the previous people working in the lab as well. Monday we had our orientation which laid out the framework for the rest of the summer. Tuesday we had our first lab meeting. Wednesday was spent reading the required material for the IRB certification. Thursday we spent practicing surveying people in a park. And finally Saturday we spent Pre-testing the survey we will primarily conduct this semester at the Living traditions festival in Salt Lake.

 

 

Lily Wetterlin

The first week was an amazing introduction to what iUTAH works towards and what our research will look like for the rest of the summer.  I was introduced to the Urban Ecology lab that I will be working in for the duration of the iFellows program.    My graduate mentor, Carolina, gave me an introduction to her research on urban trees and the question of what water sources trees are utilizing in the Salt Lake valley.  This can be found by analyzing the oxygen and hydrogen isotopes in tree roots and leafs. 

 

Stable isotopes are a precise way to analyze what water sources the trees are using.  Each water source has a distinct ratio of heavy to light isotopes.  Typically water sources that are exposed to higher rates of evaporation will have a higher percentage of heavy isotopes to that of a water source that is exposed to lower or no amounts of evaporation, such as groundwater.  This is because lighter isotopes are easier to break down, therefore will be the first to evaporate, thus increasing the percentage of heavy isotopes in that water source.  Therefore, by knowing the isotope ratios in the groundwater, irrigation and rainwater of a particular area we can determine what water source(s) the trees are tapping into.  

 

Thus far in Carolina's research she has determined that, typically, trees tap into more than one water source and that these sources vary based on tree species, depths of roots and the time of year.  The question that has arose in this research stemmed from the findings that certain trees have isotope ratios that are incompatible with either groundwater or irrigation in the area. This suggests that there is an unknown water source that we have not considered. 

 

This research is important to the sustainability of trees in the Salt Lake valley and will help us understand what water sources the trees are utilizing and what sources have little influence.  I'm excited to get out into the field and to start forming my own research questions and analyzing my findings. 

 

Adam Whalen

My first week as an iFellow only left me wanting more. After a fantastic Orientation, where I got to meet my cohort and learn more about the iUTAH project more broadly, I was able to sit down with my mentors Meaghan and Sara to discuss what I will be researching this summer! As a group, we will collect comparable data to the household and iPad surveys conducted by previous iUTAH and iFellow groups. We will then compare them against similar surveys conducted across the country. This will involve utilizing SPSS, a statistical analysis software, as well as topic conceptualization to draw conclusions about where public opinions on Utah’s water situation fits into the broader picture.

 

Overall I am very happy to be an iFellow, and I simply cannot wait to see what the following weeks have in store for me, my cohort, and all of our research projects!

 

 

 

Sandra Udy (Young)

I spent some time with my peer mentor, Elizabeth Ogata, going over how to prepare the agar substrates for the field. She showed me around the lab and introduced me to various parts of the research that I will be participating in. I am excited that I will have the opportunity to expand on the research done last summer on pharmaceuticals and their effects on the biofilm in the rivers in Utah. I haven't done a lot with water and nutrient relationships, so I am excited to learn about the effects that nutrient runoff has on river ecosystems.