I live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada working slavishly or not-so-slavishly on a PhD in microbiology at the University of Alberta and generally trying to enlighten or avoid the undergraduate students that I TA. My current research involves the isolation of bacteria from Victoria Upper Glacier, Antarctica and the formal taxonomic description of some of these isolates. I'm also trying to isolate and identify the carotenoid pigments present in these bacteria, how they are made by the cells and why the heck they would want to in the first place. I discovered Wikipedia in December 2005 after reading an article in the December 15th 2005 issue of Nature and observing the general lack of contributions and disorganization relating to microbiology in Wikipedia at the time. I use Wikipedia as a good opportunity to practice my writing skills and to understand my field better by trying to explain it in layman's terms. Mostly I putter about trying to add and clarify things within my field of study as best I can, but I certainly do not claim to be perfect...
