EasyBiology

Vocabulary

1. hog problem (262)  Noun: an abundance in 1 type of organism which is usually invasive
2. epidemiologist (263)  Noun: Person who studies the causes, patterns, and effects of diseases 
3. specter (264)  Noun: a ghost of apparition
4. Level 3 Biohazard (268): Noun: Infectious agents which cause potentially fatal diseases in humans
5. Fish killer (270): Noun: the agents which cause fish death
6. Estuarine (270): Adjective: relating to an estuary, a stream off a major river
7. post mortem (270): Adjective: after death; examination of a corpse after death (autopsy)
8. paternalistically (279) Adverb: managing in the manner a father deals with his children
9. hot zone (286): epidemiology hot area where only trained personnel work with highly infectious and potentially fatal agents. 
10. epidemic (324) Noun: large outbreak of disease in a given human population in a given period 

"The state of North Carolina's actions in this instance suggested to her that science was being politicized on a higher level, and in her mind it went straight to the very issue that she had argued needed to be addressed during the coastal futures process: how government handled scientific findings that bore directly on the established policies and practices. "

This quote shows the relationship that government has with science. In North Carolina, as estuaries and lakes became infested with bacterial, the issue of the toxic dinoflagellate became a political issue; some wanted to take action while others ignored the scientist's claims.

"Plead ignorance if you want, I don't care. But your the deputy director of this agency and you out to know whats going on"

This quote those the ignorance that the Director of the Coastal Futures agency and others like him possess about real and scientific dangers that come from the environment. In this case the Director does not acknowledge how his agency slandered Dr. Burkholder and denies her claims of a toxic dinoflagellate explosion in North Carolina's Waters.

"Although officials in the department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources were frequently quoted as saying that North Carolina was doing a top-notch job of protecting natural resources and environmentalists who said otherwise were guilty of a sensationalist distortion of the facts, a compelling body of evidence argued that those officials were deceiving the public. 

This quote shows how officials tried to deceived the public by playing off Burkholder's research as "sensationalist distortions of facts." In reality, the officials did not want to believe in the dinoflagellate because they did not want to admit the failures in the systems methods to protect the state's rivers and lakes from such toxic agents.

"At this point she was thoroughly disgusted with the environmental bureaucracy in North Carolina. "

This quote illustrates the exasperation that Burkholder experienced as she tried to get the Coastal Protection programs to listen to her research. They just outright slandered her without looking at her evidence and continued to use ineffective polices that failed to protect the environment.

"[Officials], in his opinion, was admitting that [their] policies for protecting coastal water was a failure." 

This quotes shows that finally after many attempts, Burkholder and Dove were able to convince the officials that the toxic blooms exist and are a danger to human health. As they now recognize their mistakes these departments can now move to better polices which combat the dinoflagellate.

Timeline

1. Howard Glasgow is offered an assistant's position in Burkholder's Laboratory; his wife Aileen is overjoyed thinking this is a great opportunity for him.

2. Aileen hosts a backyard barbecue to celebrate regarding this event as the start of Glasgow's scientific career.

3. After working with the Dinoflagellate Glasgow has become increasingly irritated and began to scream; red lesions appeared on Glasgow after they returned from France and he began to be increasingly disoriented

4. Howard begins to experience "blowups," weird moments where he would yell. Aileen begins to implicated the dinoflagellate as the cause of these strange occurrences.

5. Howard begins to experience brain degeneration and undergoes an MRI; on the way home he became lost, disoriented, and confused.

6. Howard was told to not go back to work or to drive; doctors suspected a major neurological injury.

7. Howard appears to relax but then experiences a series of outbursts.

8. Dr. Schmechel determines that there was brain damage and it was probably caused by the Dinoflagellate.

9. Howard is unable to leave home and has to be taken care of my his wife and daughter putting a financial strain on the family.

10. Glasgow is able to return to work but he is unable to work with the toxic stages of the Dinoflagellate as he is "hypersensitized" or overly sensitive to its toxins.

11. Dr. Burkholder accommodates Glasgow's return and sees him as a friend, worried for his health.

12. Glasgow's inquisitiveness leads to experiments that opened up productive and new territory for inquiry.

13. Glasgow shows that Pfiesteria had a history on attacking predators up the food web and becomes worried that the dinoflagellate will show up inside his blood.

I highlighted the problems JoAnn faced within the scientific community to get published and recognized for her research. She had to deal with alot and Dr. Noga was not really helpful. JoAnn and Glasgow also began to experience bad effects of the toxic Dinoflagellate which shows that it can affect humans. Glasgow also became a full time associate of JoAnn; she regarded him as her partner.