I'm coming up on my one year leave from a full time job. It's time to start applying myself towards a job search while I decide which area I want to continue research into. I'll probably look at short term contract software development jobs to give me the freedom to continue research. Already found quite a few development job postings for biotech companies, that's probably the way I'll get my feet wet to see if the lab environment is appealing.

All done studying methods in microbial ecology: enrichment and isolation of cultures, viability and quantification via staining including fluorescent in-situ hybridization, genetic stains, radioisotopes and stable isotope usage.

Also finished microbial habitats, including soil, fresh water, marine, deep sea, hydrothermal vents. On to interactions with plants and animals including syntrophy, the carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and iron cycles, and methanogenesis.

After that I get to a fun section on microbial growth control, which I'll probably actually use in day to day life. Learning exactly what sterilization methods work in which ways and on what form of microbes will be useful.


- posted by Aargau @ 12:01 AM