Earth and Environmental Sciences

Eliza O'Malley

There are many ways that corals help the ecosystem, whether it's for the environment, the land, or the fisheries, corals have a great impact. Corals dying have many problems in the world, such as population decreases in fish and the increase in coral bleaching. This research is important because it could change the way that corals can be biologically engineered to withstand the rising temperatures. Coral reefs are a part of a fragile ecosystem that struggles due to coral bleaching. Coral bleaching occurs when water temperature increases due to climate change. This research is important because it highlights some of the work already done by marine biologists from places such as Northeastern and the University of Miami. This would help with supporting reef recovery. This research is also important in creating awareness for funding. The proposed outcome is that after 10 days, the corals will be fully adapted. In my research, I will take the Montipora corals and adjust the temperature in the tanks similar to global warming temperatures to see if they will be able to adapt. The Corals will be measured pre- and post-experiment to check for growth, so that it will be seen if they were thriving.

Eva Figlar

Iron is proven to be affected by the consumption of polyphenols and ascorbic acid. Polyphenols inhibit the absorption of iron because they chelate to the iron molecules, making them larger and therefore more difficult for epithelial cells to absorb. Polyphenols are found in foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts. Ascorbic acid enhances the absorption of iron because the ascorbic acid donates an electron to iron, making it into the only form that can be absorbed. This experiment looks at how different ratios of ascorbic acid and polyphenols can impact the amount of iron absorbed in mealworms. Mealworms are a simple meal or nutritious snack, and are a staple in many cultures. Mealworms can also be a quick source of iron for people facing food insecurity. By experimenting with the diet of mealworms, it may be possible to maximize their iron content, making a nutritious option for a meal.

Claire Burns

Great White Sharks are warm blooded which means they need to stay at their own comfortable regulated temperature. Due to climate change throughout the decades this has caused Great White Sharks to change their habitats ascribed to climate change. Climate Change has been causing not just our worlds on land to change but our oceans, which benefits human life most of all. Climate Change causes temperature increase, a sea level rise, and an increased amount of acidification. The Great White Sharks change in movement has been at a rapid increase for many years as climate change makes the oceans acidity worse and worse. As this continues to happen warmer waters attract Great Whites north which can have disastrous consequences for a whole ecosystem. This exemplifies how the ongoing acidification of the ocean, driven by climate change, could lead to significant shifts in the movement patterns of Great White Sharks as ocean temperatures continue to rise.

Eva Taleb

In moderate and cold ecosystems, nitrogen has long been considered the component most likely to restrict forest growth. Human activities have increased the release of nitrogen in the last century. (Driscoll, 2003) For plants to prosper, they need to absorb nutrients from their surroundings. In particular, phosphorus and nitrogen contribute to photosynthesis, which in turn promotes growth. Waterways abundant with nutrients due to fertilizers high in nitrogen and phosphorus become eutrophic due to algal blooms from agricultural runoff. This leads to fish suffocating to death and oxygen depletion. Approximately 1400 species in the continental United States are classified as endangered or threatened due to nitrogen pollution, an inorganic water pollutant affecting two-fifths of US lakes and one-third of US streams. (Hernandez, 2016) Communities are impacted by excess nitrogen because it changes the ecosystem, favoring invasive species that grow faster than native plants that have evolved to nutrient-deficient soils. For this reason, too much nitrogen is less harmful to invasive species than it is to native species. The purpose of the experiment is to investigate how nitrogen pollution affects native and invasive species differently on land and in water and compare plant growth as well. The species of plants studied will be local and tested in a lab-controlled habitat while sharing the same constant parameters and environmental conditions. It is expected that the invasive species will show higher levels of growth. These results could be beneficial to local community efforts to combat the negative effects of invasive species. 

Asher Pereyra

Fossils are one of the most important tools in all of biology, as they give insight into the past of the Earth, and how organisms interacted or lived in their environments. By understanding the processes that create and form these fossils, it allows for more understanding of the ways that life on our planet changed. However, in nature, fossils are extremely rare, requiring very specific conditions which are not available in a large amount of areas, and takes hundreds to even thousands of years to form. However, in laboratory settings, it has been demonstrated that the artificial creation of fossils is very much possible, and experiments have been conducted that have been able to form these fossils in short periods of time, such as only a few days (Saitta et al. 2019).  However, these short-term experiments generally need high grade equipment that can operate at very high temperatures of 200+°C. This experiment aims to use lower grade equipment with slightly lower temperatures to create semi-comparable results, going up to 121°C. In this procedure, specimens are exposed to sediment and high temperatures and pressure to allow for the fossilization of those specimens, by compacting sediment with natural matter in it, and exposing it to high pressure and temperature by use of a pressure cooker. It is expected that the specimens exposed to these conditions will fossilize, and show comparable results to completed experiments by other researchers.

Emerson Smith

This research aims to study how Neurospora, a commonly used model organism, behaves under five different environmental conditions. The changes will simulate climate change over four to five months. The five conditions are: cold (40 degrees F), hot (96 degrees F), humid, dry, and a control environment. The experiment will observe how Neurospora adapts to gradually increasing severity in temperature and humidity using temperature chambers and incubators. This will help to understand how climate change might affect the growth and adaptability of fungi, particularly pathogenic species, which could become a larger threat to healthy populations as the climate shifts. Observations will be made both visually and microscopically to track changes in growth patterns, morphology, and potential shifts in pathogenic potential.

Leighton & Stella Accinelli

Climate change is rapidly affecting plant growth and survival, with rising temperatures that are threatening native species like Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias Incarnata). This study aims to investigate the impact of varying temperature on seed germination rates and growth. The swamp milkweed seeds are going to be cold-stratified and planted in different temperature environments. All other variables, such as light exposure, watering, and soil type, are being kept constant to isolate the effect of temperature. Data is going to be collected over two weeks should show that the seeds kept in the higher temperature environment displayed slower germination rates and reduced growth. These findings highlight the urgent need for awareness about climate change's impact on the ecosystem. Promoting solutions like solar energy, forest conservation, and reducing fossil fuel usage can help protect plant species and support sustainable agriculture in the face of climate change.