Lab Rats at Las Cruces by Amanda Strong

           

            We have come to the end of the semester here at the Las Cruces Biological Station. The last week has been primarily centered on the research of all the different groups. Due to the slowing down of the semester, the only reasonable topic to bring up is the research itself! Our group was tasked with the topic of “plant-based soaps.” Our instructions were to find local plants that contain chemicals called saponins, and see if they could be used to replace typical soap. Saponins are thought to be the main ingredient that allows the dirt and bacteria to be swept off of your skin. Learning the fact that saponins did not kill bacteria, but lifted and dragged the bacteria off the skin, is what encouraged us to go with the technique of handwashing in the lab.

The portions of each treatment used in our experiment. In order from top to bottom: PF, Clidemia hirta, Yucca elephantipes, and Phytolacca Rivinoides. *the species name for PF is undisclosed due to privacy rights.

            On the same night we were assigned our task, we all sat together hypothesizing about how we would test our new ideas. We concluded that we would use the plants to wash our hands – the same way we would with soap. How would we check to see if this worked? We would check bacterial growth on our hands from before washing and after washing. We also wanted to use two controls to see how effective our plants really were: Protex© antibacterial soap and plain tap water. Our plan worked out well. We researched four plants: Phytolacca rivinoides, Clidemia hirta, Yucca elephantipes, and PF (shown in the photo above) that are known to have high saponin content and did exactly what we had planned (well… more or less). We washed our hands with these plants and with the controls (sounds a lot simpler than it actually was) and watched the bacteria grow…or not grow.

            Our results were surprising! None of the treatments worked better than any of the others – meaning that none of the plants worked better than water, and neither did the Protex© antibacterial soap (see chart below). The good thing is that each of them did, indeed, decrease the bacterial load on our hands. The group had to chalk-up our results to good handwashing technique and clean water as the fundamental necessities when it comes to handwashing! Of course, there are many implications in the lab that could have skewed our results and we have plenty of ideas for future research.

            It is a bittersweet moment, because a part of me is relieved the semester is over, but another part of me would have really liked to continue the research and answer the questions we now have. Perhaps, next semester, a different group will pick up where we left off!

Grey bars = bacterial load before handwashing. Black bars = bacterial load after washing. Each treatment shows a decrease in bacteria overall, but there is no significant difference between how well each treatment worked. In order from left to right: PF, Phytolacca rivinoides, Clidemia hirta, Yucca elephantipes, Protex© soap, and water.

Unplugged by Sarah French

On Monday, November 9^th, we visited Las Alturas for three days.  OTS owns a small cabin in Las Alturas, which is a large area of private, protected land.  The owner of the land maintains a small dairy farm and greenhouses to supply food to the community, but it is mainly conserved land.  The plants grown in the greenhouse are experimental; here, the most common and highest yield crops we are used to seeing elsewhere cannot be found, but rather the agriculturists and resident agronomist try to grow plants from different regions, ones that need lower levels of pesticides, and see what works best.

            We had spent the past week in San Jose and were all pretty fed up with the traffic, air pollution, and noise.  There could not have been a more perfect place for us to visit and unwind.  We did not have Internet, electricity, or any assignments looming over our heads. We were completely unplugged.  We hiked, ran, and learned from the farmers and gardeners working the land.  During the nights we all spent time together playing card games, talking, singing, and reading.  It was a much-needed break from technology and reintroduction to being together again, as we did not have the chance to see one another as often in San Jose.

            Our time in Las Alturas felt like summer camp. The wooden building smelled just like the cabins at my camp. We were unplugged, 100% present in the moment. That is one of the most special things about summer camp, there are no distractions; friendships kindle in a heartbeat.  Though we had already spent three months together in nature, in Las Alturas it felt different.  It was truly just us, and we were really out in the middle of nowhere.  I felt a true sense of contentment.  Looking back on this semester, I know that sitting on the porch that first day at Las Alturas singing along to Keaton playing the guitar is a moment that will stick with me forever.

Communication is Key by Alex Schmiechen

            While at the Las Cruces Biological Station in San Vito, Costa Rica, over these past few weeks I had the wonderful opportunity to conduct research related to using plants as alternative soap sources. This research was very unique compared to past studies I had done, as I really felt that my work could actually make a direct and positive impact on the community around me. However, in order to make this impact I realized the importance of being able to communicate my research to the community around me, who mostly speaks Spanish exclusively. Though we did not come to the conclusion of using a specific plant as soap, I still felt that the discussion surrounding why people lack soap and our research were essential for future progress and awareness in the San Vito community.

            I especially valued our poster session as it gave my research group an opportunity to convey our findings to the community and bring people into the discussion surrounding why people need alternative soap sources in the first place. Although people in a position of privilege might not have initially considered this to be an issue, I felt that people were actually very interested to hear about our research and why we had done it.

            During the poster session, presenting in two different languages and to a wide range of people about our findings made me consider the importance of communication in the science field, especially across nations and cultures. Language can be an important limitation in the acquisition of scientific information. A lot of research may be present from a certain region, but necessitate that regular people and scientists alike have the language abilities to understand new information. This definitely came up during my research when I was looking for information about the local plants and the community I was basing my research on. I definitely valued my Spanish more when I realized that without it I would have struggled much more to find relevant articles and information. All this made me recognize the importance of being able to communicate to a wide variety of people in order to share ideas, especially ones that could actually make a difference in people’s lives. 

Full Circle by Willa Chen

            For the last few weeks of the program, we have been at Las Cruces Biological Field Station conducting the independent research projects we planned during our first stay at Las Cruces several weeks ago.  As my good friend Rachel put it, it has been exciting ending the semester by researching a topic that we have been thinking about since early on in the semester.  But more than that, these last few weeks have really tied up everything we’ve learned about and experienced in the program, including global health, ethnobiology, and Spanish language and culture. 

            For my group’s research project, we examined the factors affecting whether or not parents in the canton of Coto Brus communicated with their children about contraceptives, which had a direct link to global health and Spanish culture.  One of the most interesting experiences of the past few weeks was definitely conducting surveys for our project in San Vito, Coto Brus.  The surveys allowed me to not only practice my Spanish but also learn about Costa Rican culture through personal interaction rather than through the lens of a classroom setting.  Although initially it was stressful talking to so many strangers in one day, eventually San Vito became a second home – I knew where all the stores and streets were and even started recognizing regulars who passed by every day.  I am thankful for this experience, for it allowed me to take the Spanish and research methods I had learned in classes this semester and connect with a town in Costa Rica.  In addition, although I was not technically part of the other groups’ research projects, it was difficult not to be involved in their larvae hunting and plant collections, bringing my experience full circle back to ethnobiology, too.

            The past few weeks of research eventually culminated in a poster session, which I thought was a fantastic way to end the semester (see above for a picture of our poster).  Since most of the people who came to see our posters spoke mainly Spanish, we ended up presenting our work mostly in Spanish, despite preparing mostly in English.  To me, this was just another way of showing how far we had come since the beginning of the semester – our confidence with Spanish language and culture, our knowledge with global health and ethnobiology, and our growth as human beings. 

As our semester wraps up, I have reflected a lot on this experience as a whole.  Although there were many rough patches, I am thankful for the experiences I have had, the new cultures I have come across, and the people I have met.  Pura vida, Costa Rica.  ¡Hasta la próxima!