CMMS Spring Meeting 2019

On Tuesday March 5th, members of the Chesapeake Microscopy & Microanalysis Society gathered at the Carnegie Institution of Science for the CMMS Spring Dinner. Catering was Mediterranean food provided by Mezze, and during dinner informal talks were given by each of the Board of Directors about their role gathered at the Carnegie Institution of Science for the CMMS Sprig Dinner. Following dinner, the group adjourned to the adjacent seminar room to listen to two talks. Catering was Mediterranean food provided by Mezze, and during dinner informal talks were given by each of the Board of Directors about their role in the Society. Following dinner, the group adjourned to the adjacent seminar room to listen to two talks.

The first talk was by Gary Bauchan from USDA ARS on the parasitic Varroa mites feeding on honey bees, and how cryo-SEM, TEM and Confocal techniques revealed that the mites feed on bee fat, not their blood as previously thought. He even brought along a 3D printed mite scaled up to human size, to give us an idea of what it would be like to be attacked by one ourselves!

The second talk was by Andrew Steele of the Carnegie Institution of Science, who told us about Martian meteorites, and how they can be used to help us search for life on Mars. While no life has yet been detected on the Red Planet, meteorite samples of the Martian surface can tell us about the presence of water and organic compounds that could have potentially formed the building blocks of life on Mars.

Carnegie scientist Andrew Steele explains his instument on the Curiosity Rover

USDA ARS scientist, Gary Bauchan, explains new research describing the feeding behavior of Varroa mites on Honey Bees