Hello again everyone,
This will be my final blog of the season, as the summer wraps up and all the students head back to school. This past week was my final week working in BIO as a student, but luckily for me I get to come back as a full time employee! My summer at BIO was absolutely amazing, between learning how to work in the lab, and the multiple field work experiences I got to have. Continue reading “The Tans Will Fade, but the Barcodes Will Last Forever”
This week at the University of Guelph, the 6th International Barcode of Life Conference is being held. That means that there are literally hundreds of scientists roaming around campus and the city, discussing how to further our knowledge and improve the way we study biodiversity. Pretty exciting right? The theme of this year’s conference is “Barcodes to Biomes”, which seems to be the ideal motto. It hits on the expanding field of biodiversity science, and if you walk around the conference for a few minutes, you can see what a global phenomenon DNA barcoding has really become. Hundreds of delegates from all over the world have come to Guelph to listen to their fellow scientists, network, and figure out what our next steps should be. Continue reading “The 6th International Barcode of Life Conference”
Hello again readers! After my Point Pelee adventures, I have now returned to the quieter lab life, processing and sorting insects from private parks and conservation areas around Canada. So far, I have been processing a lot of different insects from ecological reserves and conservation areas in British Columbia. BC has different climates and habitats than Ontario, and there are some insects that you can find in BC, but you wouldn’t be able to find here. One example of this is the snakefly (Order Raphidioptera), which can be found in places like Alberta and BC. Continue reading “It’s a snake, it’s a fly, it’s a snakefly!”
Hello again readers! Last week, the BIObus headed as far south as you can go in mainland Canada, to Point Pelee National Park. We went out there to do some aquatic sampling at a few spots in the area: Point Pelee, Ojibway Natural Prairie Reserve, and Rondeau Provincial Park. Continue reading “Paddling Point Pelee”
This past weekend, I headed down to Rondeau Bay to have a relaxing few days at the cottage. Usually this consists of boating, fishing, campfires, and enjoying the backyard scenery. Unfortunately, Saturday brought windy, rainy weather, so I couldn’t enjoy many of these activities. Even though Mother Nature was not being cooperative with my weekend plans, I still decided to go out and see what kind of things I could find in the rain. This was a great decision, as I found a very cool green frog (Lithobates clamitans). Continue reading “One Frog, Two Frog, Green Frog, Blue Frog”
My name is Jesse Sills, and I am a student employee working with BIO this summer. I just graduated with a Bachelor of Science Zoology degree, and I’m excited to be starting my post-undergraduate career working with plants and insects! I started at BIO in September 2014 as a work study student, Continue reading “Creating a DNA Barcode Reference Library of Plants of Canada”
