The door isn't, strictly speaking, closed; it's hanging a few inches open in that 'come in' way. Nonetheless, the girl arriving knocks on it as she pokes her head around the edge. "H'lo?" she queries, "...have I got the right room? I'm looking for a," the head dips down, apparently looking at a note on the notebook she seems to be holding in her arms, "Ling Chan?"

Ling glances up from her laptop, the wiring attached to the nearest plug. "Hi there," she greets the girl coming in. "You're Ruth?" Ling is relaxed, given the fact she might look a tad frazzled. She's been busy. "Come in, please sit down. I was just sitting and drinking coffee." The laptop gets closed down as she sits down too, to give the girl her attention.

Bernie grins, and pushes the rest of the way in, reaching up to push one of the few small curls not restrained by her ponytail back behind her ear. It doesn't reach, falling right back where it had been. The girl walks over and offers a hand to shake. "Hi. And thanks, I really appreciate you agreeing to talk to me, and all."

"No problem," Ling says with a friendly smile. "At least you didn't catch me during the final examinations." There's a little erk in that one. "Well... first, ah, would you like some water?" She motions towards the small water cooler and coffee maker placed at one corner of the room between a couple of shelves. In all respects, Ling doesn't seem bothered by the presence of the Garou yet. "Or coffee?"

As low-rage as she is, this doesn't strike Bernie as particularly unusual; she usually does pretty decently on the not-creeping-people-out front. She smiles back at the other girl, and looks toward the proffered drink. "...thanks, I'm not too thirsty right now. But, you know, maybe I'll need some after we talk a bit!" She slides into the chair that was indicated, and sets her notebook down on the table, sitting comfortably. "Is here good?"

Ling nods, getting up to pour herself a short cup of water to compliment the coffee. As she returns to her seat just one chair away from Bernie her head tilts a bit to indicate she's listening. "So, you're asking me about the recent find of the archaeology department... why me? I work under Dr. Clark yes, though I'm more handling the biology side of it than the archaeology." A hand wraps about the coffee cup and she sips again.

Bernie blinks once, and then grins, "I prolly should've started by explaining and all; they prolly, like, just told you some student wanted an interview on all this stuff, huh? Well, anyway... you, 'cause you're the one they set up the interview for me with when I called up, mainly. I guess maybe Dr. Clark was too busy? But honestly I guess my first question ought to be why should I be more interested in the archeological side? What's done on each of the sides?" Her pen is out, and she tilts her head a bit, awaiting the answer with interest.

Nodding to the first slew of questions, Ling takes a little time to lean back into her chair. "Well Dr. Clark is a professor of archaeology, so his main interest is in this new find because it's so different. We have another professor, a cryptozoologist, looking into it as well, Dr. Murphy. He's the guy who looks into species that humans find.. I guess odd or interesting. Like Loch Ness, and Bigfoot. But he's more scientific than that." She grins. "My side of the research is determining just what it is. Dr. Clark's theory is that it's a new species of short-faced bear, arctodus simus' relative. My job, then, is to prove or disprove it using what we have and what we know."

Bernie nods a bit, making notes of this, and grinning at the description of Dr. Murphy. "So how do you do that, then? How do you determine what you have and know, and what does that turn out to be?" she asks, leaning in slightly, "I mean, for example, how can you tell it might be a new species of short-faced bear, and not the old one?"

Ling mms. "Well for one, we have skeletons of arctodus simus up in museums around here and in California. So we know how their bone structures are and can compare them to both prehistoric bears and modern day grizzlies. But to prove that it's a new species, we started off on the archaeological foot. Some bone samples were sent to the University of Washington nearby, for carbon dating. Some were also sent to the Smithsonian, since they have good resources. C-14 dating though is sometimes a little unreliable. The recent forest fire history, for example, would alter the results so that has to be taken into account." Ling pauses to sip at the small cup of water. "Then, there's my job. I'm interested in the genetic evolution of animals. My proposal was to prove the species is a unique one by using genetic samples from our prehistoric finds and more modern day predators around this area."

Bernie makes more notes, brow furrowing a bit with interest in all this. "Cool... so you mean, like, doing stuff with the DNA? How do you do that? Does it match up with bears, or, the short-nosed ones, anyhow?" She reaches up, pushing a curl back futiley again, "...and from what you said... this was a new idea, something people haven't done before? I mean, trying to determine what something is, that way? That's pretty cool..."

Ling gives a short nod. "DNA sampling, mostly. Electrophoresis. Forensics labs have used it to determine the identity of a suspected murderer for example, if they found blood at the scene. In my case, the blood has to come from the bones." She shrugs a bit. "It's something that is interesting anyway. Since our overall results so far, have left room for more theorizing. We're looking into a recent method of dating through amino acids to double check our steps on the C-14 results. That I have been collaborating with Dr. Murphy to get that settled, but you'd have to ask him for more details about it." All this 'cool' stuff, Ling smiles at. "Well it's pretty cool, to think if we find a new species, it's a possibility we'll get to put our names on it. There's still a long way to go, though, so no guarantees." Then, she turns the questioning around again. "So what about the younger students around your school? What do they think about all this stuff? I mean you seem very interested at least, to think about putting this in the journal. Have you heard about the Bigfoot theories, and seen all those reports about crop circles, bleeding statues, mutilated cows..." she trails there. "It's a shame, really. Couple of kids or even some of the more zany of the tourists coming in and doing all that. The tabloids are having field days out there."

Bernie nods, and rolls her eyes a little. "I know, it's like the realistic possibilities aren't exciting enough, you know? Honestly I want to write, you know, the =scientific= version of what's =really= happening, though of course my editor wants it to be all maybe it =is= Bigfoot. But I'm writing the real story, you know? And if it's not sensational enough for him, fine, don't print it, but people'll miss out. You know?" It sounds as though there may have been some arguments in the pressroom, as it were, about this topic. "I mean, I like science, and all, and I'm kinda thinking maybe I'll major in bio or ecology or archeology, I don't know yet, but people act like it has to be the X-files for it to be interesting." A definite edge of disgust with her fellow humans, or at least students, there.

Ling nods slowly. "X-Files... you wouldn't believe how many emails I've gotten asking about Scully." She shakes her head. "Well, they can believe whatever they want. Dr. Clark and I along with our colleagues are still walking the scientific path to show what we can do out in the world with bones of a prehistoric creature." She tightens her lips a little and fingers at the pendant around her neck. "I'd almost say you should go take a look at the bones if you can afford the dinner," she says with a small smile. "Though we're just charging it so high to keep out the wackos who think they should get a free show. I just hope they're not desperate enough to try anything funny. We have enough problems keeping our reputations in the department as it is."

"I'd =so= love to see them," Bernie replies, almost dreamily, "...but what with it being right after Prom this weekend... I doubt I can afford it, you know?" She seems truly disappointed about that. "But I wouldn't think weirdos would be a problem. I mean, as long as you know they might try things, you must be taking precautions, right? Like, I dunno guards, or alarms, or something, yeah?"

"Yes, we'll have guards around. I don't have all the details about how many or if there are alarms, but we're going to do what we can to ensure the showing goes off without a hitch." Ling taps a finger against her coffee cup. "Well if nothing else, you could wait for the newspapers to come out. There'll be plenty of flashes to put lights in my eyes for a week I think," she kids. "We're hoping to get the maximum security for it. The museum might be helping us out with that too but I think the original site attendees like myself and Dr. Clark will be overseeing the transportation of it." She sips another of take of coffee, making mental notes to ask about security later.

Bernie seems relieved to hear of the precautions. "Prolly nothing to worry about, then. Though I guess I'd maybe be worried about, like, crowds of people out front trying to get in, or something, but, like, that's what the guards there are trained to deal with, right?" She bites her bottom lip, and glances around a little, before her gaze returns to Ling, eyes bright. "...Could... I know it's asking a lot, but... could I see them, and where you work? I mean, I don't have to tell anyone or put it in the article if you don't want me to, but it would be =so= cool..." she asks, and there's something particularly persuasive about her earnest eagerness.

Ling looks thoughtful at the proposition, at the young highschool student before her and her glittering eyes. "Well... I ... can't show you the bones. That's not within my authorization. I mean, even I have to wait until Dr. Clark has time to arrange for me to work down there." She gestures vaguely. "But I can show you some of the labs I was working in downstairs if you like. Where I did some of the DNA testing." She tilts her head in silent inquiry back at her interviewer.

Despite the disappointment of not being able to see the bones themselves, the labs seems to make up for it in some measure; Bernie beams, and nods. "That'd totally rock," she replies, "Thanks!" She bounces slightly in her seat, sitting up straighter in preparation for standing.

Ling smiles and stands up, though she takes a brief moment to open up her laptop and shut down a few programs. Solitaire, being one of them. After a few minutes of shufflings and packing, she's ready to go with trenchcoat on and satchel slung over shoulder. "Alright," Ling notes with a gesture towards the door. "You have to promise that you don't tell anyone though. I'm not sure how tight Dr. Clark is about this, but it is a graduate student lab so we have some procedures to run through. The gist of it though, is Don't Touch Anything. Well, anything that has a 'Do Not Touch' on it." She grins amiably, like she was sharing the obvious information jokingly with a friend.

Bernie stands, picking her notebook back up, pen still in hand, and crosses her arms over it, holding it loosely against her chest and abdomen as she rises and follows. The instructions get a giggle, and she nods. "Off the record," she assures, seeming tickled at being able to say such a movie-quality reporter line. "And got it."

"Right." The two of them exit and follow a path down a nearby stairwell, going down to the first underground floor of the science building. Taking another corridor down, Ling stops at a greenish door labeled with room number 1007. The handle has a little keypad on it, which she presses in a 6-digit code and the red light turns green. "Ok, here we go..." Her keys come out, and she slips out a card pass to swipe at the slot beside the second door off to their right and it opens into a large lab. Cabinets line one side, with most of the black labtables rowing back alongside one part of the room. Sinks for washing, fire extinguisher, everything is in order. A separate door at the back of the room holds a red LED over it, with the words In Use to light up accordingly. "This is it. The wheel for the lab lemmings to run around in." She points out the various things, then leads Bernie over to a cabinet, opening it up. "This is the stuff we use for electrophoresis." Point, label. Yay. "Basically it separates the various DNA bases into the special code, and we compare it to ones we know."

Bernie nods, taking everything in avidly. "We did that once in bio; or, saw it, anyway. The teacher brought one out and he ran one of the separations, it was cool, watching it all move across that gel stuff..."

Ling nods, glad she didn't have to go through that whole thing. "Yup. So, what I did was gather DNA samples from the bones, and process them enough to get some decent bits and pieces. That, after running all those tests, came out and I compared them to tests I did with DNA from species of bears, and wolves." Her eyes squint a bit as if she's thinking about those results.

"How do you process them?" Bernie asks, tilting her head a little, "...my bio teacher just used this solution he had in a vial... and how come bears and wolves, in particular? I mean, why not... mountain lions? Or, like, rabbits, even? Though, I bet it came out like the bears, right?"

Ling chuckles. "Rabbits, well... the teeth from the skeleton alone show a rather carnivorous take on life. Here..." she moves over to a handy lab table and pulls out a sketchbook from her satchel. Flipping to an appropriate page of pretty well sketched pictures of the skull and various bone parts, she points. "The teeth there, relatively wide spacing, pointed ends. Not good if you're going to chew on alfalfa. And the structure of the skull itself doesn't suggest a feline origin. The muzzle is longer than the saber-tooth, so there's some proof." She pauses. "Well hey, maybe you got to look at the bones after all." She glances down at the sketches. "Well I'm not exactly the artist, but..." Her smile's relaxed, a little bit of humbled feeling in her features.

Bernie looks where Ling indicates, and nods a little, taking it all in. "...oh, yeah, 'cause they're set up more for grinding than tearing and stuff, right? And... but muzzle sizes could vary over time and variety, right?" A finger dips down as if to trace the sketch, but doesn't actually touch. "And you are so the artist, I mean, that could even be like a poster, like they have at the Natural History museum? It's nice."

Ling glances from the sketches to Bernie, a smile over her lips. "Thank you," she says with a chuckle. "No, I'm not anywhere near that level. They hire professionals for that job." She closes up the sketchbook and slips it back into the satchel with her laptop. "Well assuming the muzzle sizes are kept relatively the same length, it's more a matter of looking over the general structure. I'm not the expert on that, though, so don't print that in your paper." She winks, then checks up on her watch. "Wow. Well, you think we can leave the interview at this then? I've got some reviews to get to, in a few." She holds out a hand to shake. "It was a pleasure speaking with you, Ruth. Maybe I can get a couple copies of your high school papers to tack on my walls in the apartment if this things does turn out to be new?"

Bernie grins, and nods, shaking the hand. "Definitely! =I= think this is the real cool story, all I've gotta do is convince Eric it doesn't have to involve the Creature from the Black Lagoon to be fascinating. Thanks =so= much for everything." The grin gets a little more mischevious and she leans in just a little bit, "...but tell me... it =is= like the bear, right? I won't tell, honest..." Again, there's that curious quality to the question that just makes one want to answer.

Ling arches her brow at Bernie, her hand disengaging from the shake after a hearty up and down jolt, and returning to tap on her satchel. She glances about, as if it were Top Secret Info and she was looking around for cameras. "Well... to be honest, it may be more wolf than bear." She shrugs. "There's some oddities that have yet to be checked though." She smiles. "Maybe it's a wolf-bear. A missing link between carnivores and omnivore evolution? Who knows?" She looks at Bernie though. "But that's -my- little theory, only because I've seen my test results. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm not." She shrugs again. "We'll have to see."

Bernie blinks once, and her eyes widen. "Really? Oh, my god, a missing link would be SO cool!" she exclaims in excited but hushed tones. "I totally can't wait to see what you guys find out, you know?" The girl gives a little bounce on the balls of her feet. "...do you mind if I, like, come talk to you again sometime? I mean, prolly not for another article, just to learn more about how you do all this, and stuff?"

Ling tilts her head at the suggestion. "Sure, I suppose. Are you graduating soon? Maybe you could take some classes under Dr. Clark." She smiles and nods. "I don't mind the company. It'll depend when you can catch me though. Office hours would be a good time if you can get here." The grad student doesn't seem bothered at all about it.

Bernie bounces again, once, and grins. "I'm maybe going here next year, so, that'd be really cool. Thanks so much! I should let you get to your review thing, though, I guess. So, yeah, thanks again! And assuming I get Eric to run it I'll so definitely bring you a copy of the paper." She waves once, and starts to go.

Ling waves, though she steps over to open up the door and let Bernie out while following after. "Maybe I'll see you around next year then. I still have a year or so left." Her head tilts to the Gnawer and she turns off to the head in the other direction. "Bye Ruth!"

Bernie pauses, glancing at the red "In Use" light over the other door. "...what's that room do?" she asks, pausing in the doorway.

Ling stops at the door and turns. "Mm?" She walks back a couple of paces and looks. "Oh, that's for grad students who need to work on things that require darkness. Some bacteria and things, Krebs cycle photosynthesis and stuff." She vaguely gestures yet again. "Also good for reading X-rays." She chuckles. "Well. I can't hold this door open for long, or else the alarm might go off. It's after hours and all that."

Bernie laughs, "...oops. Sorry. Thanks again!" With that, she turns and heads down the hallway, out of the way of the door.