Mikhala BornsteinMany organisms other than coral can act as important habitat formers. In this project I studied six different marine ecological engineers: Ascophyllum nodosum, Crassostrea virginica, Laminaria spp., Mytilus edulis, Sabellaria vulgaris Verrill, and Zostera marina . Found mostly in the rocky intertidal and shallow subtidal, these organisms can form extensive reefs. Temperate reefs provide habitat, food sources, shelter, and breeding grounds for a number of marine species. Information was collected pertaining to these species biological information/life history as well as their distribution of the New England coast. This allowed for us to find errors in our data, what was lacking in current literature, and ultimately look into what needs to be further studied in the New England area.
Myles WagnerCoral reefs are central marine ecosystems, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. Corals are dying due to the breakdown of symbiosis between the corals and their photosynthetic symbionts caused by climate change. In order to find conservation strategies to help protect these corals it will be crucial to thoroughly understanding the evolutionary history between corals and symbiont. In order to achieve this, our lab focused on Caribean octocorals of the genera Eunicea and Plexaura. We hoped to answer the question of if the host (coral) phylogeny could be recovered from the phylogeny of the symbiont, this would provide evidence for a co-evolution of the two groups. Using phylogenetics we created genetic trees for both the corals and the symbiotic algae allowing us to compare their evolutionary histories. As of now we are starting to see trends in the trees that show the partners did not co-evolve, instead we see that many of the symbionts are not distinct to specific corals but are spread between multiple species and may be more location specific. This information can be applied to future conservation efforts. Now that we have learned that symbionts are not coral specific, a symbiont that is more acclimated to surviving in rising sea temperatures could be transplanted to corals that have symbionts that are not surviving.
My NguyenIn the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy, many habitats and coastline were drastically affected. Super Storm Sandy’s impression destroyed, or in some cases, erased coast lines off the face of the earth. The objective became clear to restore the areas affected by Super Storm Sandy back to it’s original pristine for people and animals, especially the Salt Marsh Sparrow which is an endangered species. If the coast lines were restored, in time, the area would be suitable as a habitat for the Salt Marsh Sparrow. It was more than just dumping dirt and sand to make new beaches. Soil Surveys were conducted for over four years by Ms Amber Hardy to study the viability of the soil characteristics to support plant life. If plant life become viable for these restored coastal areas, it was a good determination for habitat restoration and that the Thin Layer Placement was not lost during the transfer. This project was a great experience to witness problem-solution based project management. Further studies on Thin Layer Placement will need to be conducted to prove effectiveness of strategic planning to protect and preserve habitats.
Odom SengNanotechnology is a rapidly growing field with various applications, one such implementation is in medicine. Pulmonary drug delivery using nanoparticles has shown potential in treatment for a wide array lung diseases. Large surface area coupled with numerous capillary vessels in the deep lung region allow for direct and efficient drug distribution. For this project, nanocomposite microparticle systems (nCmPs) are synthesized using a polymer known as Acetalated Dextran (Ac-Dex). Ac-Dex has many desirable properties in pharmaceuticals as it is pH sensitive, stable and can be tuned to control drug release rate. Additionally, the nanocomposite micro particle system is necessary because free standing nanoparticles are exhaled due to their small size. These systems were loaded with a model drug curcumin and then formulated into a dry powder that can be administered through inhalation. Furthermore, surface charge and its effect on drug delivery was of particle interest. Positively charged (N-[1-(2,3-dioleoyloxy)propyl]-N,N,N-trimethylammonium) (DOTAP) were used to coat the nanoparticles ; characterization and behavior were analyzed. In conjunction with knowledge of nanoparticle delivery mechanisms, a better understanding of surface charge will result in optimized drug vessels capable of efficient targeted drug administration.
Owen PlacidoSeptic systems, or onsite wastewater treatment systems, are used by nearly a quarter of US households to treat domestic wastewater. Nitrogen pollution from these systems is a significant threat to the health of coastal ecosystems. In conventional septic systems, the soil treatment area consists only of sand. These conditions contribute to nitrogen pollution because the conditions are not proper for denitrification, the process by which nitrate is reduced to N2 gas. By adding a layer of sand enriched with sawdust, advanced soil wastewater treatment areas hope to promote the anaerobic conditions required for denitrification. Manganese oxide paint has a very similar reducing potential to nitrate, and so will be reduced under the same conditions. This study will attempt to quantify where denitrification is occuring in the soil profile by coating PVC pipes manganese oxide paint and inserting them into the soil treatment area of both traditional and advanced systems. In order to determine if this method can accurately indicate the presence of denitrification, this study will also test the soil and water collected from traditional and advanced septic systems for nitrate content. If this study finds that the reduction of manganese on the painted rods correlates with the removal of nitrate from the system, this method will prove to be a valuable tool for professionals in the field to assess the functionality of a septic system.
Sam RadovLong-term sea-level rise and short-term extreme storm events are threatening coastal communities around the world. The critical infrastructure of densely populated urban-coastal communities in some of the essential infrastructure vulnerable to extreme storm impacts. Emergency Managers (EMs) and Facility Managers (FMs) continue to face challenges in understanding and communicating about potential extreme storm hazards. The purpose of this study is to test and improve upon the methodology developed by Witkop, Becker, Stempel, and Ginis in their 2018 study in Westerly, Rhode Island. Witkop et al. coded qualitative concerns of local emergency and facility manager of the impact of extreme storms on their critical infrastructure as Consequence Thresholds (CTs). The five elements of a Consequence Threshold are: 1. an asset (e.g., generator), 2. a specific location (x, y coordinates), 3. a modellable hazard (e.g., rain inundation) 4. a threshold at which a consequence is triggered (e.g., 6 inches of rain), and 5. a consequence (e.g., “building loses power due to flooding”). Providence, RI was chosen as the 2nd site, to test and improve upon the methodology because it is home to one of the largest and densest populations in SE New England, houses the seat of government, many federal and state agency offices, and a prominent port. The extent of the study area was limited to the FEMA 500-year floodplain, plus a 100-meter buffer, to ensure adequate consideration of all essential critical infrastructure sites. We added four more elements to the definition of CT in this study: security levels, recovery times, improved naming structures, and standardized coding structures. We have collected over 230 Consequence Thresholds since the beginning of this study, from 7 critical infrastructure sectors ranging from water & wastewater facilities to universities to health and medical faculties and a hurricane barrier. An interdisciplinary team is combining the CT collected from local EMs and FMs in this study with an improved (higher-resolution) extreme-storm prediction modeling tool, that will ultimately be used by the local EMs and FMs to better plan for and respond to extreme storms in SE New England.
Tereza AlmeidaAs solar energy becomes the fastest growing energy sector, the need for a greater public knowledge on this type of energy becomes increasingly prevalent. Through refining some previous designed activities and designing new activities, we were able to create a solar outreach program that spanned elementary, middle, and high school education. Each activity is designed and modified for a separate age group where different aspects of solar energy are taught through hands on experience. Elementary students will participate in a physically interactive model of the inner workings of a solar panel. Middle school students will learn about solar circuit types and function and use solar power to run small electronics and a solar car they build. High school students will do similar activities to middle school students in addition to designing and testing passive solar cookers and learning about electricity generation by building an electromagnetic generator. Considerations were taken for transportability, fiscal restrictions, and ease of instruction interpretation. The effectiveness of these activities were tested with participants at the Taiwan Summer Institute, and Kingstown Camp. These solar outreach activities can now be implemented and tested by Dr. Macht in local schools to educate the next generation about solar power and its limitless possibilities.
Tiantian GousieDiversification of modern birds (Neoaves), which is one of the most populous vertebrate groups, is still under debate among systematic biologists. Understanding how birds are related is necessary to understand evolutionary processes such as how birds evolved to become predators and how they adapted to new environments. To address how modern birds are related I analyzed 64 available bird genomes sequences representing each of the major families in Neoaves. I used the SISRS software to find DNA sites in bird genomes to identify species relationships. Phylogenies were estimated in IQ-Tree with site concordance factors to determine branch support. We hypothesized that removing six controversial bird species (Hoatzin, Killdeer, Tauraco, Chimney Swift, Chuck-Will’s-Widow and Anna’s Hummingbird) would result in a phylogenetic tree with higher branch support values thus possibly resolving relationships among the remaining species. We did not observe support for this hypothesis, with support for the resolution of clade relationships remaining limited. Our results suggest that early bird diversification may have occurred very rapidly. Future research may involve investigation of rapid diversification of birds using different subsets of genomic data.
Uchechukwu NjokuCulex is a genus of mosquitoes known to vector of diseases such as the West Nile virus. Chemical insecticides are used to control Culex but often have harmful effects on non-target organisms. Utricularia macrorhiza, commonly known as the common bladderwort, is an aquatic carnivorous plant found in lakes and ponds. It is a natural predator of mosquito larvae. The focus of this project is to explore its impact on Culex oviposition. First, we are looking at whether Culex can detect the presence of U. macrorhiza. We hypothesize that Culex may avoid sites with live bladderworts present. Second, we are looking at how well decaying U. macrorhiza can enhance Gravid solutions, a solution used for the surveillance of Culex mosquito. We are examining an applied use of this relationship by testing the hypothesis that decaying U. macrorhiza can attract more Culex for oviposition. U. macrorhiza was placed in bins filled with gravid solution at three different sites located in Peckham farm. Each week three experimental pairings were tested, all in gravid solution: fresh versus decaying bladderworts, fresh bladderworts versus no plant, and decaying bladderworts versus no plant. Data on the number of egg rafts oviposited were recorded daily for 4 days to see which treatment the mosquito preferred. We continue to collect data to increase the number of replicates. Our preliminary results show that on average treatments containing decaying U. macrorhiza had more eggs than treatments with fresh U. macrorhiza or just gravid water.
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