Week 6-7

Hello again!

So far on my end it has primarily been still getting buffalo turbine and regular trapping done. We've also been working in getting out samples to UNM's labs in order to test for West Nile. We've gotten a few positive results back thus far, but not too many. 

Most of week 7 for me has been working in the UNM lab and learning how to do actual testing for ST Louis Encephalitis and West Nile, which has been very interesting. We have a machine called the Kingfisher which has been fun to get to figure out how to use. I'm not too sure on the specifics but it's basically a large batch testing machine for RNA testing which runs pretty quickly. Personally, I quite enjoy doing lab work and looking forward to hopefully doing more in the future. 

Not many updates thus far, hopefully there will be something more interesting to report in the future. Until then I wish you all the best of luck!