Mentor: Christopher Powers (University of Rhode Island)
Co-Mentor(s): Ying Zhang (University of Rhode Island)
Project Location
University of Rhode Island – Kingston
Project Description
Benthic foraminifera are single celled microbial eukaryotes that play important roles in biogeochemical cycling. In the Narragansett Bay (NBay), foraminifera have been identified in salt marshes with hypothesized roles in denitrification, inorganic ammonia assimilation, and carbon sequestration. Salt marshes are currently under high risks due to impacts from climate change, including sea level rise, that threatens to leave critical salt marsh systems underwater within the next 100 years. Several ongoing mitigation approaches have been proposed, but little is known about their potential impacts to foraminifera and their ecological roles. In this project, students will contribute to the ecological monitoring of foraminifera in NBay salt marshes. Students will be trained in field exploration of salt marsh habitats, ecological sampling techniques, and applying microscopy and molecular approaches for the identification of foraminifera.
This project involves:
- field work
- lab work
- computational work
Available for SURF Flex?
Yes
Required/preferred skills
Course preparation in microbiology and microbial ecology. Prior experiences in salt marsh field work, microscopy, and R or Python programming languages preferred but not required.
2022
RI NSF EPSCoR is supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation under EPSCoR Cooperative Agreements #OIA-2433276 and in part by the RI Commerce Corporation via the Science and Technology Advisory Committee [STAC]. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. National Science Foundation, the RI Commerce Corporation, STAC, our partners or our collaborators.