Project:

DNA Barcoding of Aquatic Macroinvertebrates

Students:

Kendall Litchhult, Kaleia Bosch, Adelyn O'Hanley

School:

Eastport South Manor Junior Senior High School, Suffolk

Mentors:

Rachel Neville

Abstract:

This project will focus on determining the biodiversity of the Peconic River. The importance of the Peconic River is that it is the main source of freshwater for the peconic estuary along with providing critical habitat for fish and eels that migrate down the river. Some issues that could occur is pollution in the water, which can harm living organisms. The importance of measuring and maintaining biodiversity is to help to sustain ecosystems so that many species & habitats can survive & every aspect of the ecosystem can thrive. Without maintaining biodiversity, species would not survive and could later become endangered or overpopulated depending on the amount of predators, or prey sustained in the area. We collected samples at Forge Pond, at the Peconic River by extracting them from the pond with nets. When we got back to the school we stored these samples in test tubes and preserved them with ethanol alcohol, and placed these tubes into a freezer. We expect to identify several specie

Poster:

Team samples:

See all samples for project