Polish Man in New World

This 2017 Science March story won me Amazon voucher from CID Bio-Science and can be viewed on their website as well as right below :)  My road to science began early on a little  farm in Eastern Europe where my hard-working family decided not to include me in all the hard work that farm demanded. As a kid I started to wonder around with a guide to local flora learning all I could about the natural world surrounding me. Then, through a biological class in high school and major in environmental science at the local university I continued further pondering. At the moment I am finalising my PhD project on Australian Ecosystem while helping around in the ecological research on Louisiana coast in USA . PLANTS ARE AMAZING. We still do not know how trees pump their water up to canopy? What endophytes enhance invasions of environmental weeds? What plant traits combinations and what mechanisms explain the diversity of plant we see in biomes we tread through. AMAZING! But.....

Today's trip starts a field work season where I will be assisting in a research project that examines how Phragmites australis ssp australis gained so much advantage over local species in establishing itself along Louisiana Coast.   Phragmites australis ssp australis as opposed to  Phragmites australis ssp americanus is considered invasive. Quite a change of climate. We moved from super dry Australia to super wet Louisiana. Being entirely terrestrial creatures we would not be able to get to our new study sites without a help of Anthony from LUMCON -  The Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium . We truly appreciate Anthony's help in today's site exploration: Quite a change of scale too. I started to help in looking at few levels down from a plant level - Christina will try to answer a question whether endophytes enhance the invasive capabilities of alien Phragmites and whether salinity can play a role in how microbes act and assemble within the livin...

To impress a guy or a girl Polish saying advices you of a shortcut that worked since we were monkeys or even earlier:  "Przez żołądek do serca" = "through stomach to heart". Recently, I managed to score 10 out 10 points when serving Blueberry Salad with Grilled Chicken to Christina. It is super easy and super yummy. Photo and recipe come from this website . I thought I will share the recipe here too. Bon Appetite! Ingredients 3 boneless, skinless chicken breast 1 tsp. kosher salt, divided ½ tsp. ground black pepper, divided 1 ½ c. fresh blueberries, divided (about 8 ounces) ¼ c. extra-virgin olive oil 3 tbsp. white balsamic vinegar 1 tbsp. honey 8 oz. baby spinach/spring mix blend (about 8 cups) 4 oz. goat cheese, crumbled ¾ c. roasted, salted almonds, chopped (about 3 ounces) Directions Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with ¾ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Add chicken to grill rack coated with cooking spray. Gr...

"Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together" - Woodrow W. Wilson.  Hard to disagree with 28th President of USA after having such awesome time in Washington DC with our two dear friends.  Michelle made us feel like VIP-s when guiding us through ups and downs and middles of the Capitol. while Natasha not only guided us through streets of DC + Swedish House: but also hosted and entertained us at her place. DC was a bit wet and cold at that time of a year (thank God we got married on a beach in Perth, Western Australia) I finally learnt that the State Representatives reside in Capitol not in the White House and it is called Congress not Parliament.  Shouldn't it be called "Capitollness" instead of Congress? Then, following from that we could call Congressman a Capitan instead? One Capitan went to the moon on Apollo 13 mission and came back but he did not survive getting elected to House of Representatives in 1982. John Swi...

I met Wilbert who killed in panic a bank teller Julia Ferguson while performing an act of armed robbery in 1961 (TRUE). USA does feel like a movie! Where else on Earth I would get a chance to interact with a guy who was convicted to death for a murder and released  44 years later? Meanwhile he wrote a book about it on top of numerous journal articles from behind the bars. He killed Julia as a 19 years old boy. Within 44 years in jail Wilbert gained a lot of publicity and it is believed that this very publicity helped in down-grading his conviction of manslaughter to manslaughter in panic. Aha - I did not believe it either when I heard him saying this first time at the debate around racism in USA here at Tulane University : Wilbert Rideau   is currently a recognized journalist and the book writer. And I must say he was the most passionate speaker at the Discussion on Systemic Racism. He claims that prisons are the place where long tradition of  slavery ...