Lab work is still lab work - even when it's in Sweden ;)

With field work wrapped up my home away from home is now the lab!  The lab here has a lot of fancy new equipment which is super nice to work with- but alas they still have not invented robots for the mundane tedious activities such as sieving.  Yes - in essence what I did for a week was strain/sieve the forest floor samples through a 4-mm spacing big sieve in order to remove the roots et al.from the humus.  Fun times ;)  Especially when you are dealing with super soaked spruce humus - yuck!  But I have finished up that task and now I will be on to actual analyses - which should prove less tedious and more interesting :)  


I feel like a baker - with my sieved samples ready to get cooked!

 As I mentioned the lab is very modern and updated - my personal favorite piece of equipment in the lab is the DISHWASHER - b/c back at U of A the only dishwashers are us with our own two hands - which can be particularly painful b/c washing of lab equipment doesn't just involve the washing - it involves the soaking in acid and then rinsing multiple times with tap water and distilled water - so this machine is super duper slick!  I think we need one back in the Quideau lab at U of A!!!



The automatic dishwasher - I'm in love as I have 180 samples and related equipment to wash and not by hand - yahoo!!!



I am already looking forward to seeing what kinds of interesting results we find with the samples - but of course first I have to do the analyses :)  We have the radio on to "Mix Megapoll" - a local station that seems to love the Europop - a mix of old and new and very eclectic - one minute we have the dance pop beats of Robyn or Bruno Mars and then we have mixed in The Killers and Green Day and then occasionally Tina Turner.  Keeps it interesting and varied that is for sure ;) 



Kelley working away on her own repetitive tasks in the lab :)




Weighing samples for incubation & nutrient analyses - forgot to wear my lab coat!.



I also have an office - with a window :)  Of course the significance of a window is less and less given that the daylight is already waning and I'm usually in the lab anyhow!  I share my office space with Aida - who is from Catalonia and super nice.  I have to reaffirm that pretty much everyone I've meet here is super friendly and makes me feel very welcome :) 


My office - my desk is on the left - not so very lived in just yet!