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And a bunch of “enviro-whackos” too....
You should’ve seen Erin Lynch (Dr. Mancinelli’s REU student for this year’s program) when she caught me poking at the watermelon snow.
Erin: “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
Me: *jumps* “Huh? What? Nothing.”
Erin: “Are you TOUCHING it?”
Me: *pokes the snow again* “Well, yeah-”
Erin: “NO! STOP! YOU’RE KILLING IT! They’re psychrophiles – they need cold temperatures to SURVIVE. Your finger is robbing them of their ideal temperature!”
Me: “OH CRAP.” *starts piling snow on top of touched area* “Okay, maybe I can make them cold again...”
Erin: “Annnnd now you’re blocking their sunlight. They’re green algae – they need to photosynthesize.”
A little bit of my childhood was shattered (especially in terms of miniature hillside streams and how I was committing genocide with my finger), but I learned a valuable lesson.
LOL ...