Sorry we've been so quiet for so long! It's been busy and hectic in the PhD world the last few weeks - but Mustard's here to fill you in on what we've been up to!

We went to some bioinformatic workshops, including learning how to talk to the computer in scripting language. Bioinformatics is a combination of computer science and statistics focussed on understanding and analysing huge amounts of biological data, like genetic sequences. It's a booming field because lab scientists (like me!) are generating huge amounts of genetic data that they don't know how to deal with. Bioinformaticians work out how to process the data and turn it into something usable. 

We also gave a talk at our weekly lab group meeting on our project, as a practice for the presentation we need to give at the University as part of our PhD program, and also for a conference in December. 

We also took a week off to deliver science holiday workshops at the South Australian Museum as part of their Opals exhibition. The opals exhibition is pretty awesome, so you should definitely check it out if you're in Adelaide!

Meanwhile, we've been doing lots of work at the microscope, and are getting pretty good at identifying the wasps!

Sand and water spraying up from the tyres, ABS brakes shuddering as we came to a sudden stop, cones flying widely as they get clipped by a misjudged turn... yesterday we did 4WD training! 

When we do field work later this year, we will probably be heading down some dirt tracks - which means driving a 4WD. As part of our training, we therefore get to do a course in 4WD defensive driving. It was run through Adventure 4WD, and was a really interesting and educational day! 

Our instructors took us through some theory in the morning. We learnt the difference between part-time and full-time 4WD cars, how and when you should use the 4WD capacity, when you should reduce the tyre pressure in the cars, and some tips on staying safe on the road. 

In the afternoon, we headed to Port Gawler Beach and put the theory into practice. We swerved around cones, tried sudden braking and saw first hand the effect that increasing speed has on braking distance. The change from going 60km/h to 80km/h made a HUGE difference in how long it took the car to come to a stop. 

Whilst this part of the day was heaps of fun, it was also a great opportunity to try different driving techniques in a supervised and controlled environment, so that when we eventually get out on the dirt roads we can be as safe as possible.