PhD project activities

Jambo Everybody,

Habari vipi?

I am Nzuri sana, asante sana.

Sorry for being away for so long.

As you know I spent Xmas and the New Years Eve with my family in Nordeste Brazil. During the New Years Eve almost everybody from the cost go to the beach dressed in white and give presents to Yemanjá, the goddess of the water and peace. It is very nice and special.

At the end of January I flu to Kenya for a 1 week meeting of the project I am involved. Then I came to Tanzania, where I am at the moment. At this moment I am doing some experiment in large scale, so I can better study the impact of sewage on key species of mangrove macrofauna. After adding the animals in October in some cages that were later flooded periodically with sewage and others with sweater, I am now studying the animal’s survival, growth, behaviour and others. The other thing I also doing is to study the impact that crabs and snails have on the increase of sewage filtration (treatment) of the whole mangrove system. Well, more in detail, I am trying to know how much shit are crabs and snails eating and how their bioturbation is affecting the efficiency of the whole sewage treatment facility (which is a planted mangrove).

I will stay here another month working, but because here is always a cherry on the top of the cake, I will take 8 days of safari to Serengeti and Ngorongoro.

You can check the picture. It is a photo of “my animals” inside a cell and they are taking care of the sewage from nearby hotels.

Asante sana. Tutaonana badaye,

Gil