Environmental science students take the field

Environmental science major, Rhys Rivers, shares what their summer experience was like working in a lab at UC Berkeley. 

Over the summer, I spent ten weeks at UC Berkeley as an Amgen Scholar in the Gibbs lab. My project explored the impact of cell shape on bacterial mobility using the model bacterium Proteus mirabilis.

It was an incredibly engaging and visual project that involved using both macro and micro analysis to visualize the movement of bacteria. Although my project was an inquiry into basic bacterial mechanics, there are also exciting connections to my major in environmental science. The collective movement pattern of this bacteria makes it a fantastic microbe to use for bioremediation once its movement mechanisms are understood.

The program prepared me for graduate school, allowing me to develop new lab skills, work independently, expand my scientific network, and present my research in an oral and poster session.

Student, Andrea Rosenau, also reflects on what it was like working in the field while on the Bancroft, Ontario field trip. 

During this semester I had the opportunity to attend Mineralogy’s Bancroft, Ontario field trip. We had the chance to find various minerals like Sodalite, Apatite and Quartz in the field via hammer and pick. It was interesting getting to see the beautiful fall colors in the trees but also to get in the dirt and find your very own specimens to bring home.

There’s nothing like the quality fieldwork and hands-on experience with minerals you get when going on a field trip like this. Additionally, the views over the city were fantastic and we learned so much about the rocks in the area, so I highly recommend taking mineralogy and going on the field trip!