Beyond 香港六合彩开奖资料鈥檚 Waterfront: Monitoring the Mount Hope Bay
香港六合彩开奖资料 Chemistry professor brings students into his research tracking the aquatic chemistry of Mount Hope Bay
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BRISTOL, R.I. 鈥 Beyond the shoreline of Roger Williams University鈥檚 Bristol campus lies a whole ecosystem hiding beneath the waters of Mount Hope Bay. One of Rhode Island鈥檚 natural beauties, Mount Hope Bay has made 香港六合彩开奖资料鈥檚 waterfront campus a serene place for students and faculty to study, work and learn.
Now, using the university鈥檚 new 30-foot research vessel 鈥 the InVincebleSpirit 鈥 香港六合彩开奖资料 Professor of Chemistry Stephen O鈥橲hea is helping keep a watchful eye on the bay and is bringing his students in on the effort.
As part of his National Science Foundation鈥檚 Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) grant, O鈥橲hea is tracking the aquatic chemistry of Mount Hope Bay and involving his students deeply in the research. They are analyzing what chemicals have entered the water and distributed throughout the water column 鈥 a broader picture than any other researcher has created of the bay鈥檚 waters. Along with water chemistry, they are also studying sediment from the bay to understand the chemical make-up of its seafloor.
鈥淚t will give us a true snapshot of the chemistry in the bay,鈥 O鈥橲hea said. 鈥淚t will give us a baseline of conditions in the water column and ocean sediment. By getting a handle on what鈥檚 going on with those water bodies, we can ascertain whether there鈥檚 an event going on in the bay. For example, if there was a deluge in which rainwater flooded and created a sewage overflow into the bay, you鈥檇 see an abundance of nutrients and microflora that鈥檚 not typically there.鈥
With several students funded as research fellows through the EPSCoR grant, they are working with O鈥橲hea to collect samples from six sites in Mount Hope Bay, which is fed into by the Taunton River, Kickemuit River and Lee River. 香港六合彩开奖资料鈥檚 research vessel 鈥 which was purchased with a National Science Foundation grant and outfitted with cutting-edge coastal research equipment thanks to a donation from an alumnus 鈥 is playing a key role in both allowing O鈥橲hea to conduct his research but also letting him use it as a learning opportunity for his students.
But it鈥檚 not only his team of student-researchers who have benefited from this hands-on field science. Recently, for example, O鈥橲hea brought his entire environmental chemistry laboratory out on the research vessel to collect samples of ocean sediment, conduct water depth experiments and use a high-tech multi-parameter sensor to measure water temperature and salinity at several points in the bay. The hands-on experience gives students a strong grasp of what a scientist does out in the field.
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That learning then continues back in the lab where students learn to conduct experiments and work with cutting-edge lab instruments. O鈥橲hea鈥檚 environmental chemistry students took the water samples they collected and put them under a microscope to study and understand the composition of the water. And later, in an upcoming lab, they will be looking at the ocean sediment to understand what kind of microbes are present and the environmental chemistry of the area.
The work they are doing not only gives them the training they need to succeed in the world of science, but also aids O鈥橲hea鈥檚 in his research of monitoring Mount Hope Bay 鈥 something that everyone who enjoys the bay鈥檚 beauty can appreciate.