Hi everyone
Sorry I haven't posted for a while, my life has been a bit hectic over the past few months. So I have now started more intensely on my laboratory work and have started to get some results which is great. I also have my first year viva coming up this week, which I am very nervous about but I am sure I will be fine. For those of you that do not know what a viva is, basically an assessor sits down and asks you questions about your work, to make sure you understand what you are doing and what you intend to do etc...
I have handed in around 10,000 words of my literature review my previous post stated I had completed 4000 well the first chunk is now handed in as part of my first year assessment.
I did mention in my previous post I would start to discuss the virus I am studying, the virus is called Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus it is found in elephants, and can be fatal, I am working with a number of Asian elephants in various locations.
If you would like more detailed information about the virus please see:
http://eehvinfo.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_endotheliotropic_herpesvirus
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/SCBI/AnimalCare/EEHV/default.cfm
I am thoroughly enjoying my lab work, it great being able to feel like a real scientist and really contributing to something.
I have found a number of interesting articles etc.. recently:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23545291 - Ok this one is just adorable
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24171876
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24234927
Recently I have visited Dudley Zoo, UK (NOT as part of my research just as a day out), I thought this zoo was good value for money as it includes going around Dudley castle as well. I managed to get some nice photos, especially of the flamingos which were for a friend. The Zoo was pretty easy to access it is right in the centre of Dudley. I realise I am pretty much writing a review for the zoo, but I have been to a number of Zoos within the UK and thought I would write a summary when I have been, and maybe some people will find it useful.
Have a nice day :)
I haven't posted for a couple of weeks, I have finally started writing my literature review and now have 1000 words write, probably not very good words, but at least something is written down. I have had a couple of meetings including with a UK zoo, which was very interesting.
The plan for my project is going to be written so I have know which direction my research is going to go in, I know that I am studying various aspects of Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus in Asian elephants. I feel this is an interesting area and I feel that i will be ale to contribute to the research in this field.
I think elephants are amazing creatures, from researching information for my literature review, I have found they are much more complex than what I thought. Rather than just being big and grey, they have a very complex social structure which has taken up a lot of my time allocated to research this week.
Its felt like a very long week so far, trying to get my head around bio informatics. This is an area I am pretty unfamiliar with, I have spent hours researching sequence alignment which I think I now understand the basic principles of.
I feel like I have not achieved very much this week, on my week to do list I have only managed to tick off two things, I am feeling a little disheartened this week. Creating a to do list was possibly not as good of an idea as I thought, especially when you can barely tick anything off. I feel that I do know enough and I'm worried that I will look stupid.
I have a busy weekend as well, Science in the community outreach program on Saturday, where my colleague and I have created a stall on anatomy. Where we are going to enlighten children and give them some information on the human body. We are also providing chocolate and sweets.
So its my first week starting my PhD project.... I have read for around 12 hours a day at University and at home filling my head with virology knowledge.
I attended at interesting seminar yesterday evening on the chemistry of cocktails where I tried an interesting green cocktail which was rather strange. I am also attending another interesting seminar today on herpes in fish, I honestly never knew fish could have herpes.... you learn something new everyday.
This weekend I am intending to relax a bit as I now think my brain is starting to frazzle with the amount of information I have crammed in this week.
