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