One of the coolest things about working at The Mariners’ Museum and Park is seeing how science has been, well, a thing, since the very beginning. The fact that we were doing soil pH measurement as early as the 1930’s is something that deserves a little more discussion.

The new Zeiss Axioscope 5 will allow conservators and scientists to view samples at high magnification with polarized light, darkfield and brightfield illumination, and ultraviolet visible fluorescence. These analytical features, in conjunction with our new workstation, camera, and imaging software, will allow us to view, capture, and share information that we previously could not attain in-house.

On a day dedicated to the sustainable use of water, we thought we would talk about our efforts to monitor and conserve our waterway, Mariners’ Lake.

Last month, Dr. Molly McGath and I unveiled conservation’s infrared camera to the public during the ‘Be My Mariner’ event. Visitors created Valentines for their special someones, and included a ‘secret’ message that only our IR camera could reveal.

I placed my samples in the IC autosampler, started the run and left to do my research in the wet-lab. An hour later I came to check on the IC, and it had stopped working. . .