Field Testing Foldscopes in the Hudson River Estuary

Foldscope built by Jose Martinez, Marine Research Scholar.
Foldscope built by Jose Martinez, Marine Research Scholar.

Earlier this year, the Marine Biology Research Program was chosen as a Beta tester of the latest in microscope technology – the PrakashLab Foldscope – from Stanford University. 10th grade Marine Research Scholar, Jose Martinez, stepped up to the challenge of building and testing the scope. To prepare, he wrote down a comprehensive step-by-step guide to building the scope. After 45 minutes of work he was able to successfully project an image of an amoeba on to a dark wall using the Foldscope and his cellular phone lamp. Jose is formulating a project to record all things microscopic associated to the Hudson River Estuary. For a great video on Foldscopes in Ted Talks click here and for more images of Jose’s work click here.

Marine Research Scholar Jose after building the Foldscope.
Marine Research Scholar Jose after building the Foldscope.