Last weekend, Karina and I got to participate in another project that our mentor has going on. A lot of the sampling we got to do was related to our current project and it was great to be out in the middle of no where gathering sediment and water data. The mosquitoes weren’t too friendly though.. Oh, and I fell into the water at the last site.

On Thursday, we went to 4 different sites to extract rice root and sediment core samples. Was a long day and very very wet but so awesome to be out in the field. We have a great group of hard working girls who aren’t scared to go the extra mile. Anything for the manoomin!!

On Tuesday, one our mentors/member of the Fond Du Lac Department of Natural Resources, Tom Howe , took us to collect samples from two of the lakes on the reservation. Everything was so pristine and beautiful! Only downfall was when our canoe started making circles because the wind was so strong lol

Today, we went on a tour of one of Minnesota’s most popular state parks.We learned about the history, culture, hydrology and geology of the surrounding area. Drop dead gorgeous to say the least.

We had the privilege of going to the Fond Du Lac Reservation to look at wild rice in some of the lakes. Also one of our mentors Tom Howes prepared us some delicious rice for breakfast. 🙂

So amazing to be able to go from beautiful landscapes to an equally awesome lab. We really get pumped up for rice root samples if you cant tell.

Cynthia and I pulled a late night lab session with Nate Johnson, where we learned the proper procedures for filtering and preserving Mercury, DOC, anion and cation samples. 

Field Day

Extracting wild rice on the St. Louis River today

Views from the boat 🙂