CNS Junior Writing

These past few days have been a blur. A few weeks ago it seemed like we had lots of time to finish our proposal and poster projects. Now it feels like I am running in circles, and getting absolutely nowhere. Monday, our group worked on the research proposal for 6 hours at the dining hall, then an additional 2+ hours at home. We managed to get a lot done, but every time I read through it, seems like we should add more or change something else. The abstract it seems, was the biggest bottleneck. It was a slow difficult task coming up with something that we could all agree on.  Some of the issues that we faced as a group where: is it too much information, or not enough. Not citing any resources but sounding credible. Lastly did it seem compelling. In the end we did develop something that seemed to touch all the necessary parts an abstract should have. Compressed courses like this are extremely fast paced and there is not a lot of time for discussion. Just have to hang in there for less than 24 hours then it will all be over. In the meantime, I will try my best to maintain focus, and turn out some quality work for both me and my team.

After obtaining one of the infected leaves, we will use the dichotomous key, found in Leaf Miners of North America (Eiseman 2019), to separate the data on mines made by different leaf miners. We will then measure the path of the leaf mine from the insertion point to the first vein crossing. Through our observations, we noticed some leaf miners show avoidant behavior (Figure.1), and travel to the edge of the leaf seemingly to avoid the veins. Even though this behavior does go through ends of the veins, we are defining the first crossing as the first time the mine crosses in the inner 80% of the vein. We intend to measure the first crossing, categorize the crossed vein as asymmetrical or symmetrical, and measure to the next crossing of opposite type. We will measure the total length of the mine, and measure the distance from the insertion point to the closest symmetrical vein in order to determine if the symmetrical region is accessible. We also plan on measuring the width of the mine at each crossing in order to determine if crossing is a function of size or the structure of the leaf.

Discussion (ask about abbreviating aym and sym to save space)

    A few generalizations can be made about the data collected. Of the miners that crossed veins, 75% of them crossed in asymmetrical regions first, which is consistent with the idea that females choose to lay their eggs in asymmetrical regions (Moller, 1999). The smallest asymmetrical vein crossing was at a width of .2mm and was complete, however, the closest symmetrical vein was at a growth of .261mm and the mine was left incomplete. Every leaf mine was long enough to be able to access a symmetrical area, but only 33% of miners proceeded to do so. It appears as though leaf miners do not have a strong tendency for or against symmetrical areas. Cursory observations suggest that symmetrical regions may slow the growth of the leaf miner. Since the quality of the leaf can change between symmetrical and unsymmetrical regions (Moller, 1999), this may be an area for future study.

Future Work (bullet list)

Identify instars of S. multispicata

Relate instars to specific widths of mines

Compare growth in symmetrical regions to asymmetrical regions

Just one more day to go! I don’t really have a bunch to say. Glad to be wrapping this class up. I’ve been feeling kind of stressed out over the pace the class has been moving this past week. I feel like working in groups takes some of the load off in some respects but also presents its own difficulties. I am looking forward to starting the fall semester in a couple of weeks and getting back to the stuff that I really enjoy. I have found many of my classes challenging but they were so fascinating to me that it made it less grueling work. I really hated statistics though. 

The past few days have been a blur. I feel like I am running in circles and getting nowhere. Monday our group worked on the research proposal for 6 hours at the dining hall then an additional 2+ hours at home. We managed to get a lot done but every time I look at it it seems like we should do a bit more. The area of the highest contention was what should or should not be in the abstract. Was it too much or not enough. Not citing any resources was a difficult hurdle to overcome. Compressed courses like this are extremely fast paced and there is not a lot of time for discussion. Just have to hang in there for less then 24 hours then it will all be over. In the meantime I will try my best to put out some quality work. 

What is the perfect balance of information in a report? Not enough will leave the reader with more questions than answers. Too much information will cause a lack of interest in reading your report. The information needs to be presented in such a way that it flows and doesn’t repeat itself. How does one decide what to lead the report with? Should all the information covered all be listed first then each point explained with their own paragraph? I feel that the main points are the basis of the paragraphs and the introductory paragraph should explain what the paper is about and set the format in which the information will be presented. The difficult part is supporting information and staying on point. Having someone else edit your paper can really help with this. The author of a paper has personal feelings and biases that will affect making changes to the original work.  

ABSTRACT

In July 2019, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Dr. Brewer discovered what appears to be Stigmella multispicata in an American Elm (Ulmus americanus). S. multispicata has only been observed in the leaves of the Siberian Elm (Ulmus pumila)(Nieukerkin et al. 2018). We will identify the presence of S. multispicata in the Ulmus genus, with the exception of U. pumila. We will randomly select Elm trees on the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus based on their location. Infested leaves will be collected for study and comparison. S. multispicata was first identified in 2014. There is a need for information on how S. multispicata will affect the Ulmus genus. Further research is required.         

This is the updated methods for what we did (or at least what I did)

Approach and Analysis

This experiment aims to sample leaves from every available Elm species on the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus. There are currently 293 Elms on campus, and 16 unique species (Beals). When considering unique species, the Smooth Leaf Elms, a and b, were considered one species, and spp. was ignored because the species cannot be identified. Two of each Elm species will be selected through the use of a random number generator. The selected Elms will be searched for evidence of leaf miners by observing any accessible branches of the tree. Once a leaf miner is found, a circular marking sticker will be placed on the leaf, the next 9 closest leaves will be documented for leaf miner presence, and the branch will be marked with flagging tape. A picture will be taken with the trees identification number, and with all ten leaves visible in the same plane of view. A second picture of the entire tree, with the flagged branch visible, and the trees designation number, will also be taken. After, the leaf with the median amount of leaf mines will be collected in a single use marked bag for further analysis. All observed leaf miner larva will be collected from the infected tree, and placed in the bag with the infected leaf.

     This is the last week of class and we have two of our major assignments due. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous about trying to wrap this all up and make it out of the class with a respectable grade. I have slacked on some of the daily writing requirements but I don't appear to be alone in that at least. I really miss my engineering classes. Despite them being difficult, they are truly fascinating! I miss talking about harmonic oscillators and F=ma. I am coming out of this class feeling much more confident in my choice of major. I am also looking forward to exploring some of the extracurricular opportunities I learned about at the last luncheon. I really do like the engineering track. Nervous about thermodynamics but I believe I can get through it. I have to finish my resume so I can get a work study job, too. But I can do that when the week dies down.