URI graduate takes top honors for research presentation

For native Rhode Islander Nathan Andrews, University of Rhode Island graduating class of 2015, marine biology offered an obvious and natural choice for his educational path.

“Growing up around the Ocean State, I’ve always been inspired by the ocean,” said Andrews, 21, whose hometown is Warwick, RI.

He said he realized early on his passions and curiosity for the natural world and aspired to be a scientist. At Bishop Hendricken High School, he participated in science fairs three of his four years.

His junior year project — sponsored by the Rhode Island Science and Engineering Fair (RISEF), Bishop Hendricken, URI Watershed Watch Lab, and the Buckeye Brook Watershed Coalition — investigated the effects of point-source watershed contamination of antifreeze by T.F. Green Airport.

The research led to a trip to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, where Andrews took fourth place in the world in the Environmental Sciences category and won an award from the King of Saudi Arabia.

When it came to make a college choice, Andrews headed directly to the College of the Environment and Life Sciences (CELS) at URI, where he was impressed with the potential to learn and had familiarity with the campus and academic background.

That decision led to three years of studying and research experience with various marine science laboratories, from URI to the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, and to a Coastal Fellowship, involving research opportunities supported by Rhode Island NSF Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).

Through his work for RI NSF EPSCoR, Andrews gained the chance to conduct independent research, which earned him Best Poster Presentation this spring at the Northeast Undergraduate Research and Development Symposium (NURDS), at the University of New England, Biddeford, Maine.

Andrews’ project, “How Ocean Acidification Impacts the Response of Neomysis americana to Predator Cues,” investigated how human-induced climate change, caused by carbon-dioxide (CO₂) emissions and resulting in ocean acidification, impacts the ability of mysid shrimp to detect and escape predators. Neomysis americana, commonly known as opossum shrimp, or more formally, mysids, are small crustaceans about one centimeter in length.

By examining the mysid shrimp of Narragansett Bay, much can be said about the changing climate and what the future holds for sustainability, physiological stressors, and changes in the ecology in the Bay’s rapidly changing environment.

Other research has found that low-pH/acidic seawater — caused by high atmospheric concentrations of CO₂ — affects the behavior of fish by having an impact on their ability to detect chemical cues from predators. In laboratory experiments, fish have shown signs of confusion in the low-pH/high-CO₂ water, and will swim toward a predator that they typically would avoid.

“My idea was, if it affects fish, it must affect a simpler organism like the mysid shrimp,” Andrews said, “and I wanted to see how exactly they were impacted, and to what extent.”

The topic fit well within Andrews’ scope of studying how human activity affects marine life. And, he had the benefit of working as a Coastal Fellow on a mysid shrimp project, mentored by URI Assistant Professor Jason Kolbe, URI Associate Professor Carol Thornber, who also serves as RI NSF EPSCoR principal investigator, Gordon Ober, a Ph.D. candidate in Thornber’s lab, and Jason Grear of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The project — Estimating the Potential for Evolutionary Adaption of Marine Organisms to Climate Change — was funded by a collaborative research grant from the Rhode Island Science and Technology Council (STAC).

An unrivaled experience

Andrews said the coastal fellowship gave him independence and a rare chance to truly learn how to think like a scientist. He also was drawn to the climate change research projects of his mentors — Kolbe’s work on how the shrimp evolve and adapt to temperature changes and Ober’s exploration of how algae grow and compete in CO₂-saturated seawater.

“I came up with an independent research project that supports the research being done on the project from a combination of things I learned over the summer,” he said. “I was really inspired by the work Dr. Thornber, Gordon Ober and Dr. Kolbe were doing.”

He chose to focus on the mysid not only because they were small and easy to work with, but also because of the important role they play in the Narragansett Bay ecosystem. In marine estuarine food webs such as Narragansett Bay, Neomysis americana serve as a primary consumer, transforming energy that is grazed upon and, in turn, fed upon by juvenile fish, including flounder and striped bass.

“Without this mechanism, the ecosystem would not be able to sustain the fishery,” Andrews said. “By examining the mysid shrimp of Narragansett Bay, much can be said about the changing climate and what the future holds for sustainability, physiological stressors, and changes in the ecology in the Bay’s rapidly changing environment.”

If ocean acidification renders the Neomysis americana unable to detect predators, the population quickly could be over-consumed, leaving juvenile fish without a steady food supply, and large untapped energy potential of debris-based biological material, inaccessible to the trophic structure or feeding levels of the ecosystem. That ultimately leads to what is called a trophic cascade, or the chain reaction that occurs when the food chain is disrupted by the removal of one of the links in the food web.

Tracking climate change impacts

For his project, Andrews looked at four different environmental treatments of water, including normal pH, high CO₂, and a predator cue or water containing the trace chemicals produced by the common prawn, a natural predator of mysid shrimp in Narragansett Bay.

Andrew’s data supported his hypothesis; physiologically there was a significant decrease in performance of the mysid treated in acidified or high CO₂ water. They exhibited significantly fewer bursts (an escape mechanism where they flick their tail fast, which propels them in a forward motion) and indicated a slower average speed.

In water with higher acidity levels, which mimics the affects of climate change, the mysid shrimp were unable to burst as frequently or fast. They did not detect a predator, and therefore did not feel the need to flee or escape.

Always ask why, why not, and how. Curiosity is the strength in which the human mind dares to examine the universe and question nature. This leads to discovery and most importantly knowledge, and it is this knowledge that we can use to protect and preserve Planet Earth, her magnificent oceans, and all who inhabit it.

Andrews said he also observed what is known as the shrimp’s angular ratio. Behaviorally, mysid in high CO₂ did not use as many large turns in their movements; they were significantly more comfortable, or nonresponsive to the predator, as if to try to stay in one safe location by making small turns.

“This false sense of security or comfort was due to the inability to detect the predatory danger,” explained Andrews.

Andrews said his findings opened up an entirely new set of questions, including looking at other features of climate change and how the combination of factors may impact different species and other food webs.

In the meantime, Andrews’ immediate plans post-graduation involve working as a marine biologist for Headway Workforce Solutions supporting RTI International on the Access-Point Angler Intercept Survey (APAIS) project, collecting data from local fisherman, identifying, weighing, and measuring catch and by-catch for a data profile more than 60 years in New England in partnership with NOAA and the NMFS.

Andrews also will work as a research assistant and field sampler for the URI Graduate School of Oceanography and the Southern New England Cooperative Ventless Trap Survey (SNECVTS). Three times a month, he will go offshore on a commercial lobster boat to study the effectiveness of vented/unvented lobster traps on juvenile lobsters, among other parameters.

Reflecting on his journey, Andrews said he hoped to inspire other young scientists to question the world around them: “Always ask why, why not, and how. Curiosity is the strength in which the human mind dares to examine the universe and question nature.

“This leads to discovery and most importantly knowledge, and it is this knowledge that we can use to protect and preserve Planet Earth, her magnificent oceans, and all who inhabit it.”

Story and photo by Amy Dunkle