Update on University + Bonus Video Clips

Today was the day my thesis was suppose to be done...obviously I asked for an extension, for several reasons:

(1) Started a bit late with the labwork, had wanted to do it last November/December, but as I needed some supervision, did not begin until January.

(2) Received results from the ICP-AES (measured heavy metal concentrations) a few weeks ago, and wow that was a lot to sift through and make preliminary graphs from!

(3) Freaked out because the concentrations from the sequential extraction procedure were just way too low compared to the total concentrations. Finally realised why Tuesday as they were not calculated with the correct dilution factor. Whew, crisis averted, but now have to wait for those new results, re-organised, and make all new graphs.

(4) I have a lot to write! (story of every thesis-writing student's life)

The plan is to finish my thesis within the month of March (of course there will be a blog devoted to that once it is finished!). This would be done in time for me to start my internship at Deltares by April 1, which is an applied research institute in the field of water, subsurface and infrastructure. They mainly focus on deltas (hence the name), coastal regions and river basins. They have offices in Delft and Utrecht; Utrecht's offices are conveniently on De Uithof (the university's campus) and I will be conveniently working there within the Soil and Groundwater Systems unit.

The internship should last 4-5 months, so until the end of August, which is when my two year masters program here in the Netherlands would be complete. I will be working with a PhD student, who has been in the workforce for awhile and decided to take the opportunity to obtain his doctorate degree this past year. He is looking at the hydrological and biogeochemical controls on phosphorus retention in lowland catchments. Phosphorus if you didn't know is a widely used fertilizer in the agriculture, which is definitely prevalent in the Dutch landscape. There is a high demand for phosphorus, but the supply is dwindling, therefore its retention is of particular interest to many and also to ensure minimal surface and groundwater pollution. 

As long as the Exam Committee at the university approves of my internship, I will be looking at mechanisms of phosphate immobilization during the exfiltration of anaerobic groundwater...basically I'll sample groundwater that is not exposed to oxygen (anaerobic) from two locations in the Netherlands, (1) calcium-rich brackish groundwater and (2) iron-rich groundwater, both with high phosphate concentrations. These samples will be brought to the lab so I can set up aeration experiments varying parameters like oxygen levels, temperature and pH while noting the effects on the formation of Fe and Ca minerals.

After those experiments, I will then need to write up a report about the results, hand it in, graduate and then...(scary part)...find a job! If you guys didn't already know, I plan to look here in the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Germany, Canada, and the United States. Keeping things super open because I am not tied down to anything/anyone and looking forward to gaining new experiences/perspectives. Not sure what type of job I am looking as one would think with a masters you would have a better idea, wrong! I do like surface water (think rivers, lakes, estuaries) and soil/water quality, so guess I shall go from there (of course anything to do with water I like...but that entails quite a lot).

Well now that I got that off my chest and this post is all words and no pictures...here are some lovely short video clips for you to watch:

Used a centrifuge to collect some resuspended sediment from the Horsefly River, but in order to do this we had to kick up the sediment to create plume in front of the pump resulting in a weird dance...and yes I know I look really ridiculous, but that is what we would do for 15-20 minutes at a time.

Marjolein and I made several sampling trips to the Horsefly River and often were accompanied by a research assistant, Ben. We asked him to take a photo and I guess he took a short video instead...

 

Last September when I was in Alberta for Labour Day weekend, we had 14 people and 7 dogs and stayed at my uncle's place along Cowboy Trail with a view of the Canadian Rockies.

 

Driving back from Banff through the Kananaskis part of the Canadian Rockies to my uncle's place.

Drive from Calgary south to my uncle's place, gorgeous view of the mountain range as you drive through farmland. Definitely one of my top favourite views (sorry for all the wind noise).