This last Saturday September 26th 2020 I went on a hike to Kilgore falls up in northern Maryland to collect a soil sample for microbiology lab class. The purpose for collecting soil was so that we can realize that a lot of microbes are yet to be discovered and local soil can be rich with biodiversity. The lesson came along with a very educational TEDTalk video that talked about how little we know about the microbes living in our soil these days. It was very inspirational and made me think of the probabilities of me being able to find a new microbe. So I decided to take my computer science friend from Towson university to go on a mini fun hike to find some untouched soil. Our hike ran us about an 1.5hrs. We walked through mud ( it was drizzling at the beginning of the hike I almost slipped within the first 5 mins of walking ), water, and climbed up and down some rocks. Although the trail for Kilgore falls is rich in dirt/soil I wanted to go deep in the trails (by climbing rocks) to get some untouched soil from footprints. I wore sweatpants and a t-shirt and regretted wearing the sweatpants because of how hot I was. Both of our feet’s got wet from walking in the water but it was such a relaxing hike. I felt like a real life scientist. I picked the perfect spot, got my soil, and checked the temperature outside. In my experience from this I got really excited at the thought that people are in fields where they get to explore/adventure and get to go back to the lab and see if they’ve found anything. Midst our hike me and my friend had a discussion on which scientist is more important in modern day living; a computer scientist or biologist? Obviously to me they were both two different arenas but I think they both help out exponentially in life so no one really won the argument. I had a lot of fun collecting my soil sample. I love gray skies and that’s how Saturday was so it was just perfect. I took the backroads going/getting home and it was honestly so peaceful. I hope I discover something and get to name that microbe. But if not I’m not too pressed about it because the experience was cool enough! I’ll def let y’all know if I do find something when I get back in micro lab : ).
nice post