Aquatic Botany Prac Exam

This is a photograph of what very large phytoplankton look like under the highest magnification of a good quality microscope.
So you can imagine what very small phytoplankton look like... and they move.

This makes them very hard to identify -which is what I just had to do in my prac exam.
I didn't enjoy it very much.
In fact, that was probably the hardest prac exam I've ever done- I'm not even sure I got any of the identifications right.

On the other hand- I'm pretty sure I blitzed identifying the species of seaweed, but that really doesn't make up much of the test so its not worth a lot.


Anyway, the good news is that I have officially finished all classes for this semester. All I have left now is my four theory exams the first of which is only a week away. Scary thought.


P.S. I'm pretty sure the cigar shaped brownish algae in the photo is pseudo-nitzschia, but then again I could be wrong because as I've just said I'm not very good at this.

I'm starting to get a little stressed.

I'm siting in the computer lab relaxing between classes and everyone around me is madly working on their Marine Ecology reports. I finished mine yesterday- at least I think I did (well, thats not true I still have to write the abstract tonight but its as good as finished)- and everyone else is saying that they are going to have to pull an all-nighter to finish theirs by tomorrow (when its due).

I'm now begining to stress that maybe I've missed something.

I know I haven't missed anything out of the Marine Ecology report (it is 15 pages long- I can't possibly have missed anything), but perhaps there is another major assignment that they have all been spending their time on that I have completely forgotten about.

I very much doubt that I have missed anything because I am far too obsessive compulsive about having all my assignmnents listed at the beginning of semester and all due dates in my diary within the first week of semester.

Anyways, I've got other things to stress about.
I have to clean my house when I get home tonight so that it is ready for my house inspection tomorrow.
Then I have to write the abstract of my report and have a final proof read.
Then I have to gather all my x-rays and test results to take to my specialist appointment.

I've got to go now because Tori and Megan require my attention.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

Man its been cold this week.
Did you know that there was a day this week when it was actually colder in Tasmania than Antartica? Crazy!
We had the first real frost of the season here this week- it was so cold that there were parking spaces at uni at 9:00 (my fellow students must have all been home in their nice warm beds).

I think there should be laws against weather that is so cold that you have to wear so many layers of clothing that you can't move.

In other news of the week, I am still alive : )
I didn't miss a single lecture this week, but I haven't really gotten anything else done.

I am currently taking a break from working on my Marine Ecology report- its due in 5 days and its worth 30% of my mark in that subject so its pretty important.

I finally got back the other report I have written this semester (most of my work has been essays rather than reports this semester) and I got a distinction- not bad considering I know that I rushed it and didn't do a fantastic job (that's the one I did when I was at Rob's house with all the distractions and the constant urge to go to sleep from all the medication)- It was only worth 15% anyway.

Anyways, I have to go back to being a devoted, dedicated student.
That reminds me, the lecturer known as the muppet said "Can I please have your undevoted attention"- he should know that we are never devoted : )

Can you tell I'm practising my procrastination for swotvac- there's only one week of classes left. VERY scary- I'd better get on with it then.

Hi Everyone- that is assuming that people still read my blog (no comments on the last one- and there were pictures and everything).

Good news is that I made it through a full day of lectures today- just.
For anyone that doesn't know, I missed almost a full week of uni last week.
I spent the week
- going to the doctor (frequently)
- getting x-rays
- getting bloodtests (and all sorts of other gross things)
- watching episodes of 'firefly'
- watching episodes of 'atlantis'
- watcing episodes of 'bones'
- attempting to keep up with lectures I was missing
- having nightmares about dead bodies on space ships -wonder where I got that from ; )
- and doing a lot of napping z z z zzzzzzzzz

So here's hoping that I manage to at least make it to most of my lectures this week- around naps of course.

simply messing about on the river..

~This post was written last Friday, but I was interrupted before I got to upload the pictures~

Today was a nice change from my normal day at uni- mostly because it wasn't actually spent at uni. Rather than a full day of lectures and practicles my Aquatic Botany course decided to take us for a full day of 'messing about on the river'.

We got on the 'Jeremiah Ryan' at 9:00am at the Hobart Wharf. We turned the vessel into a floating lab, stopping at four sites (Cornelian Bay, Sullivans Cove, Northwest Bay, and the Iron Pot) and measuring the temperature, salinity, and oxygen at depth increments as well as collecting water samples to analyse chlorophyll contents back at the lab, the light penetration of the water, and collecting samples of the phytoplankton to identify the species compositions and productivity of the phytoplankton at each of the sites. All though we spent the entire day doing these samples and measurements it really just felt like we were messing about on the river (Derwent that is)- especially when we were watching the seals lying back at the surface sunbaking with there flippers streached out.

Me and Tori- Tori is only looking a little bit green at this stage.

"Kermit" showing some students how to use a plankton net.

A random guy from my class-
I just really liked the way it looked like he's hovering over the water.

A nice friendly lighthouse we parked next to.

Babies, Babies everywhere

Yesterday two of my good friends had additions to their family. Both of them had their first child.

One of them was from America and came to Australia, and the other went to America from Australia.


Faith and Joey Stokes had a baby boy and named him Steele Jacob.



And Martha and Terreth had a baby girl and named her Julia Ruth.



Then I found out that John-John (shown below) is expecting a baby brother or sister which they have named potato for the duration of the pregnancy.

Look, Look, Look!!!

What have I been doing?
I'm in final year uni, what do you think I've been doing? Check out the picture above- its actually a page of my lecture notes from today (crazy, huh).

Good news is all the work is actually paying off. I got an essay back today (that I wrote millenia ago- or at least that's what it feels like), and I am pretty pleased.

I had kinda forgotten about it, and wasn't stressed until everyone else was saying how bad their marks were and what a hard marker this lecturer is.

When I finally picked mine up I was very pleased with the 90% I received.

When I was reminded that this essay was worth 25% of my overall mark I was extremely pleased.