DNA sleuthing in the desert
On Friday, I posted a story about a science project in which I would participate on Saturday. OK, it happened, and it was exhausting but a lot of fun. I was one of five leaders of a group of about 22 citizen scientists working on the CALeDNA project. The purpose of the project: take soil samples in designated spots throughout California, in this case in the desert, to analyze the thousands of strands of DNA found in the soil to learn which plants, animals, fungi, birds, bacteria and so on inhabit the site or have in the past inhabited the site. Soil health, soil diversity, determining what will happen to all these plants and critters as the climate changes, to study the effects of human intervention in the study areas, to learn more about the desert, and so on.
Anyway.....in the morning we did serious bushwhacking over an area with no trails. My group was about six volunteers. Although we had a GPS coordinate and tablets and apps, we really relied mostly on following landmarks to get to an oasis in the desert, so we followed washes and ridges, and there we were. And we took samples.......one inch of soil in a test tube should tell the scientists a whole bunch of stories.
So, here are some photos of my companions doing their work. The guy with the phone......not calling home. Jacob was entering data into the iNaturalist app to describe the site from which his group was yanking out soil. Also, some photos of the landscape in which we were working.....beautiful joshua tree, pinon pine, juniper forests (yes, those are what deserts call forests).
And the other element to note: look at the youth of the citizen scientists. Makes me feel so good to so many young adults interested in studying the environment, contributing to our knowledge base, particularly in this notable anti-science era of trump.
(PS, we tried to go to Pappy + Harriet’s after we were done, but were told that it would be at least 2 hours for a group of our size. The groups Curls, and then Willows and finally Cults were playing, so it was crowded. So, no go.)