Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Week 5: Day at the Museum


We've had a lot of adventures here at the museum so far! All of the interns have been learning and developing new skills and tackling some pretty intimidating challenges.

Lindsay calmly gets her work done, and Sam never loses his cool. Claudia handles the pressure worst of all.

For example, Lindsay, Sam and Claudia were given a collection of Permian fusulinids from the late Paleozoic. This collection included over 500 slides!

The collection needed re-housing, entry into the database and lots of imaging! Everyone gained a few new grey hairs, but were very proud of the finished products.

A light microscope image of the holotype, Pseudoschwagerina vilcanotensis.
Another challenge for the interns is CT Scanning. This amazing technology allows us to create 3D images of our microfossils and see the outer shell and internal structure at great resolution.

Processing these files can be slow, but Morgan finds plenty of coffee helps get the job done.


However, you can't beat that amazing view!


 Top: Bulimina rectospinata Bottom: Globorotalia menardi

The work that we are doing at AMNH is very important for the preservation of the collections and for scientists interested in microfossils around the world. And if stress ever builds up too much, we can always take advantage of our employee discount at the museum store!

Swag modeled by Brittany: AMNH fleece jacket and T. rex-embroidered AMNH scarf! 

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