Journey through the Juncus Jungle

So my group did not like my title idea, but I still think it's brilliant.  The alliteration just makes me want to read all about that Juncus!  And it would definitely stick out in a Scientific Journal, just sayin.  But on to the explanation because I'm pretty positive that no one knows what Juncus is...

Juncus is found in marshes.  It looks like grass that is as tall as me, but its ends are like needles and they feel very stabby. This is what my group project members and I walked through for 5 hours on Tuesday.  We decided our project would focus on Grand Bay marsh in Mississippi, about 1 hour and 15 minutes from the Sea Lab.  We gathered data on 9 different criteria in 20 different transects to see if there are any conclusions we can draw about the plant dominance and diversity in the marsh.  Oh, and this is a 3 week project start to end- data collection, data analysis, presentation ready.  Yes, we are insane.  But we have a really cool project, so it's all good.

Our fun day in the marsh:
Started at 6am!! Each of us took our designated equipment for the test we were supposed to run at each transect.  My job was soil organic matter (SOM), so I collected dirt. It was almost like making mud pies in test tubes.  Science is really just a bunch of adults that want to act like kids forever, I'm convinced.
So let me tell you how this juncus stuff works... It stabs you. Literally everywhere.  And we walked in it for almost two miles, two very stabby/muddy/hot miles.  I have little cuts everywhere, covering my legs and getting my arms pretty bad too.  But when we were done for the day, our cut legs were covered/coated/slathered in mud.  Trying to clean all of that dirt off... it stung just a bit. But even with all of that juncus attacking, the horseflys that tried to eat us, and the mud monsters sucking us into the Earth, it was a super cool experience!  Do I want to work in juncus marshes for the rest of my life, probably not. But I just finished my first field research collection ever!  This is some legit Marine Biology going on right here! (And another positive: The mud was a great exfoliate; even with our bajillion cuts, our legs are super soft.)

My muddy, Juncus-lovin research group!

So now that the field collection is complete, we can start collecting some data in the lab, then start analyzing and putting the project together.  This weekend's project is to finish counting all of the dead and live leaves and measure live leaves.  From there, we have fun machines to give us some data.  It'll be coming together soon!

And now I am off to get everything ready for tomorrow!  We're leaving at 7:30am to catch the Ferry tomorrow.  We're going snorkeling in Perdido, and I am super pumped!  I get to use my brand new snorkeling equipment!!  So you all will get an update on that soon!