Project:

Fungi Biodiversity in New York City

Students:

Allegra Masterson, Alma Laufer - Barhad, Neil Kush, Nate Rose

School:

Dwight School, Manhattan

Mentors:

Michael Paul

Abstract:

This project will compare biodiversity levels of Eomycota across New York City. The aim of the project is to observe how biodiversity levels of mushroom species will change across a variety of locations in Central Park and Riverside Park. The fungus samples will be collected from multiple locations in Central Park as well as a few locations in Riverside Park. To ensure sterility of the samples, latex gloves will be used to collect the samples and a petri dish will be used to store them. We will be using the Whatman No. 1 Chromatography paper as our DNA extraction method as outlined by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s DNA Barcoding Guide. The DNA will then be amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) before gel electrophoresis is performed to confirm the success of the PCR amplification.

Poster:

Team samples: