Hello! I hope everyone who had their spring break last week had fun.
This week I will continue to get certified to work in the vivarium with the mice. I have already completed a "Risk Assessment Form", which is a form that asks if I have any allergies and if I have gotten all my vaccinations. I have also completed a "CITI Training" online course, which gives information about proper procedures when working with animals. This morning I am working on finishing the "Bloodborne Pathogen Safety Training", which is an online course giving information about how to avoid exposure to Bloodborne pathogens, and what to do if exposed.
When I finish all these certifications, I will get additional training in the vivarium about how to work with the mice.
Also, if you have any questions about the images of the lab I posted last week, leave them in the comments!
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Hello again!
I finished the online safety training yesterday, so now I am just waiting for UA to approve me to work in the vivarium. While I am waiting, I emptied the dishwasher and autoclaved some pipette tips and distilled water. I am a little worried about the water, because apparently if you screw the lids tight on the jars of water they will explode in the hot autoclave, and if you don't screw on the lids at all the water will bubble out. So fingers crossed I screwed on the lids just right?
I am also learning how to use Image J. It is a free program I will be using to count the green dots on pictures of the brain I was imaging. I will get more training on how to use it tomorrow, but I have been playing around with it today for practice.
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I helped make a buffer today, and I got training on how to count the labeling on the mouse brains.
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This Thursday I went to a neuroscience symposium at ASU with one of the graduate students working in the lab. There were lots of posters from graduate and undergraduate students about the neuroscience research they are working on, and afterwards there was a lecture from two professors about ethics and law of neuroscience. I really enjoyed going, not only because of the interesting research the students doing, but also because I got to talk to them about their experiences at ASU. It was kind of reassuring that I am not the only one who doesn't know exactly what career I want. Also as an added bonus there was free lunch!
Friday I will work on counting the labeling on the mouse brains. See you next week!
