This week Rikke have let me join her in her biology adventure. I will try to blog a days worth of biologizing.

09:00 Just this moment Rikke and I are sitting in a bulgy blue van heading towards a lake or stream where we aim to catch Gammarus pulex. This we will do by putting on waders, and then walk around in the water with little nets.

A gammarus pulex is a small invertebrate that probably the most common invertebrate In danish streams. And because they are so common they are an important factor in their ecosystems. And that is one of the reasons why Rikke is be using them in her study. She will be trying to determine what effect the pesticides have, on these invertebrates, when they run into the streams with rain water.

10:30 We have gathered all the Gammarus pulex we need, plus over a hundred liters of stream water. It wasn’t difficult catching the animals but I managed to get bitten by a cool looking spider…I wonder if Ill wake up ind the morning with great powers and great responsibility. We will now be heading for another little stream, this time in forest. In this stream we will gather leafs for the Gammarus pulex. I have no Idea why but they like to eat decomposing leafs.

17:00 Rikke and I are now back at DMU (Danmarks Milijø Undersøgelser/National Environmental research institute) with half a forest and a couple of lakes worth of invertebrates. We had a nice lunch in the sun, but now we will continue our endeavors. I got an exiting assignment. Sort the leafs that we gathered….. you think that sounds boring? A bit like dusting of gravel? …well It is. And the reason for it seems even worse. I just stopped feeling pity for the roadie who sorts the rock star’s M&M’s, because this asshole of a rock star doesn’t like the yellow ones. I sat for 3 hours removing all the leafs that where a little to hard and leathery or to chewed and dissolved. So the little rock’n'roll invertebrates (good name for a band by the way) wont have to eat any second class leafs.

By now biology isn’t as romantic as it were this morning, but I must say its fascinating in many ways. For instance I found 3 different species of the caddisflies larvae. If you don’t already know (I didn’t) they build a little and quite hard house around them self. One them build it out of wood another of stone (no there were no third little pig with a straw house), and some of them even had small sticks “glued” to the house, probably to make them a bigger mouthful for predators. The house they build is also great camouflage. At least I got quite startled when a little head and 4 creepy crawly legs popped out of the stick like thing I was holding.

18:00 all the leafs and animals and what not, have been stored in climate rooms (special rooms that are unaffected when we have to face an inconvenient truth). And we are going home. And I’m looking forward to anther 3 days of biologizing.

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