Project:

The Impact of Chemicals in the Environment on Pollinator Diversity

Students:

Matthew Coleman, jacob Danziger, Zakee Sharif, Kevin Gatien

School:

Connetquot High School, Suffolk

Mentors:

John Halloran

Abstract:

Many plants reproduce through the process of pollination, which is often done by a living organism. Biotic pollinators face many variable that can lower their populations, and ultimately, their overall diversity. We plan to collect specimen under the Apoidea family, and look for genetic diversity within specimen collected. We plan to collect our specimen using a trap that consists of a mixture of water, maple syrup and detergent. Once specimen are collected, we will attempt to visually identify them, using a dissection microscope with a ruler in the field of view to provide a scale. After that, we carry out the PCR protocol, to replicate DNA, which can then be barcoded. Once we receive our results via DNA Subway, we can draw conclusions and create data tables to help illustrate results and attempt to answer our experiment’s question.

Poster:

Team samples: