And even though it was only part-time employment and the pay was not nearly enough to live on, that didn't matter to her, because she was confident things would change as soon as Dr. Burkholder saw how smart and organized her husband was, what a hard worker. Howard was the brightest person Aileen knew. (p. 115)
-Aileen is the caring mother and wife of Howard Glasgow. Being a mother of two daughters, Aileen was hoping Glasgow could be a scientist during his life. Even though pay wasn't suffice for the family, she called all her friends as a celebration for Glasgow's new but dangerous work.
Aileen's mind raced on a solitary track. She was worried sick, and the last thing she was thinking about was the dinoflagellates, because there were so many possibilities that made more sense than some exotic organism no one knew much about. She was thinking brain tumor and neurological disease and multiple scclerosis, all of which were very likely explanations for his symptoms. (p. 120)
-As Glagow doesn't believe his illness is a major problem, Aileen is terrified about his health. Since she has grown up around medical emergencies, seeing that her father was a surgeon, she understands his husband's similar symptoms; Aileen's mom has trouble with words since an accidental fall that fractured her skull and Aileen's grandmother has hallucinations after a series of strokes.
"Do you have any idea what is being said about you by the people at NMFS Charleston?" "No. What's being said?" "Well, i just came from a meeting at which they said they were investigating you because you can't be trusted to work safely with toxic dinoflagellates." "That's bullshit!" (p.124)
-The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in South Carolina gave calls to Dr. Burkholder about her research and the sanitation in her trailer. After the incident with Dr. Glasgow, they plan to a run-through of the trailer with her. After their meeting, the NMFS has decided to lock up her research trailer.
Now she knew what had happened to Howard Glasgow. The exhaust fans weren't doing the job of ensuring air exchanges, the door separating the hot and cold rooms had not been properly cut, and as a result, the airflow in the facility was reversed. Contaminated air had been flowing into the area that was suppose to be sealed off. Glasgow had thought he was working in a safe area, when in reality he was being exposed to high levels of toxin without any protection whatsoever. (p. 128)
-Dr. Burkholder and safety officer Bruce MacDonald decided to do a vent check on the facility she and Glasgow was working in. After using a tissue to test if the ceiling fan had enough suction to propel the tissue midair, they found out that it was doing the opposite; air from the hot room, where the experiments were done, is being sent into the cold room, where Glagow does his work.
Like vampires, they moved from one cell to another, drawing blood until there was no more, then moving on to the next victim, picking up speed as they went and swelling with each consumption until they were in order of magnitude larger than when they started. That's ten times bigger. (p. 141)
-Glasgow tested how the
Pfiesteria feeds with his blood. Then he showed Dr. Burkholder what he witnessed. Not only did the dinoflagellate prefer blood but also they attack by eating white blood cells first, the body's first line of defense. It latched onto the blood cell, then sucks it dry until there's nothing but an empty shell. This image haunts Howard Glasgow as he fears it will drink everything in his bloodstream.
In the meantime, however, human beings were suffering who very possibly could have been spared if just some of this information had been passed along. And this, in Cover's mind, created an obligation to alert others to the potential health risks. Which is why he said to Dr. Burkholder, "JoAnn, you need to talk to Ed." (p. 152)
-Being a secretive scientists, Dr. Noga has been working with a new student named Janice Kishiyama. After disbanding with Dr. Burkholder, Dr. Noga wants to figure out how to stop the
Pfiesteria while Dr. Burkholder wants to know how to safe other people from being infected by the dinoflagellate. Peter Cover, JoAnn's new assistant, recommends that she talk to the control freak, Edward Noga, about how to stop the outbreak.
The way she read the incident, Dr. Levine never intended for her to receive any funds for research. As she saw it, the interest he had expressed had been the culmination of a campaign on the part of DEHNR to show that she was undeserving of the trust or belief, and in that way to silence her. (p. 193)
-Dr. JoAnn Burkholder is a headstrong scientist who believes in what she is studying. She has recieved many praises for what the dinoflagellate prefer to thrive in, nutrient-rich waters. Both Dr. Ronald Levine and the Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources believe in Dr. Burkholder's view of public health but refute her idea of causing the closure of New River. JoAnn has biological evidence of what is causing the fish kills but does not have the credibility to make the claim true.
