Hello,
I may be starting a collaboration soon with someone doing some
expedition work in Madagascar. They have volunteered to collect some
insect defensive secretions and insect specimens for my work. It might
be good for us to have a contact person there (in a lab or institution?)
who can help us with some of our considerations:
1) The supplies for this will be very simple and I can provide them:
clean glass vials (I will certainly provide) and plastic tubes of
ethanol (for the insect specimens). Can they bring the ethanol with
them or can we ship it there for them to pick up at their hotel, or
should we find a biology or chemistry lab there who can give them some?
2) Once they have the samples and specimens, what is the best way for
them to bring them back for study - should they ship them or put them in
their checked baggage? For the ethanol, I can have them drain it out
and just leave the insect wet with it and a little tissue paper inside
the plastic tubes, to avoid concerns of having to bring alcohol with them.
Any suggestions would be great, and if you or someone you know has a lab
in Madagascar (Antanarivo ?) that would be even better!
Thanks!
--
Aaron T. Dossey, Ph.D.
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
