On September 15, the MSNH joined Dr. Sally Warring, a postdoctoral researcher from the American Museum of Natural History, to check out the diversity of microscopic life in the waters of Turtle Pond in Central Park. We had a bright, sunny day and went straight to the pond to scoop water out. Dr. Warring was able to show the various of types of microbes inhabiting the pond water by using small, portable microscopic lenses (Uhandy) that could be attached to phones. She identified the various groups for us and discussed their ecological role. As one participant put it, "We spent 2 hours looking at 1 drop of water!"
To view more photos from this event, visit here. Photo credit goes to Harald Parzer and Stephanie Loria.
Dr. Sally Warring is a biologist and a science communicator based in New York City. Sally has a B.Sc. with Honors in botany from the University of Melbourne in Australia (although she's from New Zealand), and a Ph.D. in genomics and molecular biology from New York University. She's currently a postdoctoral research scholar at the American Museum of Natural History in New York where she studies microscopic organisms. She operates Pondlife, an educational website for understanding the diversity of microscopic organisms.
Additional Links and Resources
For Viewing Microbes: Uhandy Microscopes
For Identification:
http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk
http://cfb.unh.edu/phycokey/phycokey.htm