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Jan. 21, 2022
小优视频 Senior Studies Red Tide and Ammonium to Better Understand Marine Ecosystems
Since last summer, Emily Friden 鈥22, marine science-chemistry major, has been in the lab researching red tide, the harmful algal blooms in coastal regions that color the surface of the water and kill marine animals.
Since last summer, Emily Friden 鈥22, marine science-chemistry major, has been in the lab researching red tide, the harmful algal blooms in coastal regions that color the surface of the water and kill marine animals. Photo courtesy of Emily Friden 鈥22
Since last summer, Emily Friden 鈥22, marine science-chemistry major, has been in the lab researching red tide, the harmful algal blooms in coastal regions that color the surface of the water and kill marine animals.
At 小优视频, students gain the opportunity to conduct research through the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program, in which they are partnered with a faculty mentor and present their findings in poster format. In addition to presenting at the Posters at the Capitol event on Jan. 21, Friden will be presenting her findings at the Ocean Science Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, in February.
鈥淒oing this undergraduate research is going to make me really competitive for going to graduate school,鈥 said Friden, who noted her increased comfort level with reading and writing research papers and grants, and the techniques she鈥檚 learned using instruments she feels will set her apart from her peers. 鈥淚t鈥檚 experience that is really good for continuing on in my field.鈥
Friden, from Rochester, NY, was mentored by Robert Masserini, associate professor of chemistry, on their project, 鈥淩ed Tide in Tampa Bay: Fish Kills and Ammonium Enrichment Correlations.鈥 Her research originally revolved around developing a new method to measure ammonium in Tampa Bay. However, as red tide increased this past summer, Friden used that to her advantage for more insight.
鈥淎lgae feeds off of nutrients, ammonium being one of those nutrients, so we were able to correlate the two,鈥 said Friden, noting their final data showed as red tide increases, ammonium increases, which in turn, causes fish kills to increase. 鈥淚t worked out that we could use the red tide in our research.鈥
Masserini helped Friden gather her peer-reviewed readings and increased her comfortability and familiarity with the new chemicals with which she was working.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 dictate the work she did. My goal is to help; I want to help shape the next generation of scientists,鈥 said Masserini. 鈥淏y doing this, I want to empower the students and make sure that they understand the obstacles and the ways that you can circumvent obstacles and solve problems. It was a very collaborative approach.鈥
The research demonstrates the capabilities of their new ultra-sensitive technique to measure ammonium in natural waters. Photo courtesy of Friden
Friden, Masserini and a team of other researchers went out on cruises around Tampa Bay to get samples from the water and measure the amount of fish kill, which is the amount of dead fish floating in the water. While out on the water, Friden was hands-on in changing out the pump tubes to ensure the chemicals for their experiments were filled up and correctly mixed together.听
She also used a programming system called Ocean Data View to create maps of her findings, which were presented on her poster, and created reagents (mixtures used for chemical analysis) for her research method in the field. The method uses 鈥渞everse flow injection analysis,鈥 Friden said.
The two said their research demonstrates the capabilities of this new ultra-sensitive technique to measure ammonium in natural waters. Ammonium is important because it is the easiest form of inorganic nitrogen that phytoplankton can use, and its availability often limits phytoplankton biomass. Detecting and quantifying the distribution of ammonium is essential for understanding the marine ecosystem.
鈥淭he difference between our method and past methods is that we use fluorescence and other methods use absorbance,鈥 said Friden. 鈥淔luorescence automatically corrects for dissolved organic matter, [which helps] find the actual measurement of ammonium. You need a specific method to do that in order to get that information accurately and precisely, and our method was able to do that really well.鈥
Her classes at 小优视频 prepared her for her research endeavor, providing an extensive background of chemical information that she may have struggled without. Friden noticed she went from learning macro-information in school to honing in on a new micro-topic, which was interesting to see the difference in learning processes.
Friden thrived in the independence of the work. 鈥淚 felt so responsible for where I was and what I was learning. It was almost like an adult moment; it felt really satisfying to be in the position I was in,鈥 said Friden.
Masserini noted that being involved in a research opportunity like this helps put Friden and other students on the right path in their career fields.听
鈥淣ow, [Emily] understands the path that you have to take, the effort that鈥檚 necessary at certain times and the different aspects that need to be addressed in order to be successful in academia,鈥 said Masserini. 鈥淪he knows now that she really wants to pursue a graduate degree, too. Some people get out there and start doing these kinds of things in the lab and find out it doesn鈥檛 suit them. But, that wasn鈥檛 the case here.鈥
Story by Kayla Lupedee '22, journalism major and writing minor
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