Project:

An investigation in early autumn on macroinvertebrate biodiversity in the Massapequa Preserve using DNA barcoding technology

Students:

Danielle Jacobs, Ashley Justino, Kayla Vessalico, Madison Schimkus

School:

Massapequa High School Ames, Nassau

Mentors:

August Eberling

Abstract:

This project studies biodiversity in an ecosystem and how human activities can affect it. The Massapequa preserve, is a temperate deciduous forest, located on Long Island in the suburbs of New York. In the preserve there are bodies of freshwater that inhabit different species of macroinvertebrates. The preserve is a public place that is often busy with people which means there is a high chance the water is polluted with garbage that people leave. This experiment was conducted to figure out if this area was biodiverse, by collecting samples of macroinvertebrates from the sediments in the water. If there is biodiversity in this area, then we know that it is well sustained. Each organism has a different DNA barcode, a method used to identify species, and it will be deciphered at a later time at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory using Sanger sequencing.

Poster:

Team samples:

See all samples for project