Project:

Exploring and Barcoding the Invertebrate Organisms of the Peconic Bay Estuary

Students:

James Bazata, Colin Dell'Isola, Joseph Governali, Scott Marciana

School:

Eastport South Manor Junior-Senior High School, Suffolk

Mentors:

Robert Bolen

Abstract:

Our group is going to research and measure the biodiversity in the Peconic Bay estuary using DNA. We will collect aquatic invertebrate organisms, photograph them, and then barcode their DNA to identify them. This will help us to measure biodiversity by seeing what specific organisms are present. We will collect small aquatic invertebrate organisms, such as dragonfly nymphs and amphipods, from the Peconic River, and then bring them back to the school. When at the school, we will photograph the organisms under a microscope to keep record of them and prepare them for long-term storage. We will barcode the CO1 gene, which is a mitochondrial gene found among almost all eukaryotes. Barcoding the CO1 gene will allow us to easily identify organisms. This process will allow us to determine what organisms are present in the estuary and how much biodiversity there is. Currently in the Peconic estuary there are issues which are affecting the organisms. One of these issues is that sewage has been s

Poster:

Team samples: