Visiting Thompson Rivers University and Their Microbiology Lab

January 14-18th, 2013

I had been looking forward to this for some time. I was finally going to meet Ann Cheeptham. Ann is the Microbiologist at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) I have been assisting with microbial collections from caves. I have collected samples from caves such as Raspberry Rising and Booming Ice Chasm looking for micro organisms that show resistance to bad bacteria. We have had conversed over the phone and via email for more than a year, including appearing on the same Television show, yet we had never met in person.

A collection of samples collected from caves.

This opportunity came through the Science department of TRU. I was invited to give a talk about Caves as a part of the University's science speaker series. Being quite honored the invitation was gratiously excepted.

The winter for me has been a bit more difficult than expected, so a few days prior to the talk I found myself with not enough money to get to Kamloops a meager 517km away. So, packing my Winter bivi, a few MREs I began hitch hiking. Through a number of hours standing in the snow, 4 rides, a comfortable sleep under trees in the ditch, and a few kilometers walked, I arrived in Kamloops a day early.

Ann and myself finally meeting.

I spent the rest of the day tweaking the talk (I am a tweaker until the end). Later that evening I visited with my family for the remainder of the night. The next day I arrived at TRU with butterfly's in the stomach to finally meet Ann Cheeptham. She is a warm enthusiastic person. After a friendly and delicious lunch, the Talk...

The room was very full with faculty, students, and the public. It took a bit to get my groove on, but after a short time I was into it. The initial hour was soon over, as I took an extra 10 minutes to outline extreme caving. Eyes were opened! Questions followed with some great feedback.

Collecting samples within Raspberry Rising.

The next day I was back at TRU meeting the students who had worked on the Raspberry Rising and Booming Ice Chasm samples. These they were able to show me. I then attended one of /Ann's classes and finished the evening at an Art show where cave microbe inspired art was on display.

Some of the microbial influenced art.

It was a very warm and fantastic visit. Thank you everyone for the opportunity!