Update: halfway done!

Hello friends and backers,

I once again apologize for the long silence - but I can assure you that I've been quite busy! Yesterday, I sampled the fifth time step (60 days) of the experiments. Today, I am using the scanning electron microscope to examine the fine-scale features of the decaying leaves. Here are what the samples look like, after being coated in gold:

 

I do not want to delve into too many details, but I can assure you that I am getting some very interesting results. Leaves of different species are exhibiting vastly different decay rates and patterns. One species has decayed away entirely, while another is nearly indistinguishable from fresh leaves! My advisor and I are very excited, but want to keep the specifics quiet until close to the end of the project/publication. I will include a few pictures in my next post, however!

Back to the scope!

Emma