It’s high time I laid out some goals for this spring and summer to keep me on track, so here they are:

May

1. Prep reagents and supplies for Carrie Bow trip, including SS-DMSO, tubes, and coolers. Need at least 750 ml SS-DMSO, shoot for 1 L. Need at least 30 tubes, shoot for 50. Bring some shears.

2. Think about methods for zooxanthellae separation while at Carrie Bow, especially this method. May need to bring some NaOH – check with Zach. Ultimately the goal is to get some separated host and symbiont DNA as reference material for RADseq. Will need proper centrifuge tubes – check with Zach.

3. Collect coral samples for Porites porites study while at Carrie Bow.

4. Collect isolated P. astreoides and P. porites host and symbiont cells/tissue while at Carrie Bow.

June

1. Extract DNA from samples collected in May, as well as re-extract any samples from November with low quantity/quality.

2. Purify DNA for all samples destined for RADseq.

3. Confirm with Adam the timing of RADseq work.

4. Start REU project on symbiont genotyping. Narrow down specific samples / question. Currently favoring idea of evaluating symbiont identity in the three branching Porites related to the Hall Award proposal. This could be a separate paper.

July/August

1. Wrap up REU project

2. Perform RADseq and submit samples for sequencing.