Coolest class ever

So I'm in a Field Ecology class, and that basically means we learn how to execute Ecological experiments and become familiar with all the equipment associated with them.

I am loving this class!! We have an independent research project due at the end of the quarter, and it has to be 20 pages and it's worth 55% of our grade. No pressure.

My research project is turning out awesome. Or at least, I should say, the results are close to what I expected they would be, which is nice. I'm comparing nitrate (aka fertilizer) concentrations in local streams and if it has an effect on invertebrate diversity. I sampled a stream by the golf course, and the nitrate concentration there turned out to be 2.5% .... which is a TON compared to the 0.05% I found in the other streams. YAY! I was hoping it would be high ... and sure enough, it was.

Here are some of the critters I've found in the streams thus far. They're all super small ... their length is less than the diameter of a pencil eraser. (Except for the elephant mussel ... that was bigger than the palm of my hand).

This is a leech:


This is the elephant mussel I was talking about ... and yes, that is a quarter.

These are case-building caddis fly larvae ... they build these cases around themselves and when they are ready to hatch and become irritating flying insects they come out of the water.

This is what a naked Caddis fly looks like:

This is a biting midge larvae (aka no-see-ums. They are the most irritating of all insects). They are the smallest out of everything that I caught ... you almost can't see them with the naked eye.
And finally, the non-biting midge. Even though they're small, these are the easiest to find because of their color.
I hope this didn't bore you to death. I'm just really excited about this project even though it's going to suck up a ton of my free time, because I've never done anything like this before and it makes me feel like I haven't completely wasted my tuition money.

Have a blessed day!