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Field work on North Uist in the Outer Hebrides.

 

Megan Barnes' project is looking at mitochondria in stickleback fish from different populations found in North Uist (the Galapagos of stickleback biology). I got the chance to spend a few days there last week. We spent the days looking for fish in various lochs and scrambling up and down the marshy banks covered with heather. It is beautiful there with extensive views in every direction. We saw Hebridean sheep, Red deer, short-eared owls, great black backed gulls, heard cuckoo and caught fish (and the occasional eel!). Afternoons and evenings were spent examining embryos resulting from crosses set up in the dining room which had been converted into a lab. many thanks to Andrew McColl for the invitation, I enjoyed every moment.




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