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This summer, biology major Kevin Cunningham ’08 is looking at how the disruption of water flow in dammed rivers affects energy being processed in biological communities downstream.
His work is a collaboration with Nancy Waters, associate professor of biology, through Lafayette’s distinctive EXCEL Scholars program, where students conduct research with faculty while earning a stipend. The program has helped to make Lafayette a national leader in undergraduate research. Many of the more than 160 students who participate each year share their work through articles in academic journals and/or conference presentations.
Cunningham is also a recipient of a David M. Nalven ’88 Research Assistantship. The Nalven Fund enables a student to engage in ecological/environmental research with a faculty mentor in the biology department during the summer.
The project focuses on the water ecosystem of the Merrill Creek Reservoir, a tributary of the Delaware River near Washington, N.J. According to Waters, reservoirs interrupt the natural flow of running water, impacting both flora and faunal communities through changes in factors such as temperature, substrate, and dissolved oxygen. They are using a leaf litter decomposition study to understand better the impacts of dams on biological energy by assessing macroinvertebrate communities in the water.
Macroinvertebrates are streambed crawlers that break down plant material and produce waste, which is in turn consumed by filter feeding organisms. For the decomposition study, dried leaves were placed inside two groups of bags, those that will allow macroinvertebrates to aid in leaf decomposition and those that will prevent it.
The bags were placed in specific locations along Merrill Creek, both above and below the Reservoir. Bags were recovered after five weeks and again after 14 weeks; at each recovery, general water quality characters were tested and the macroinvertebrates are now being documented.
“The research focuses on how the presence or absence of larger macroinvertebrates affects others downstream,” says Waters. “We are looking not only at energy but also diversity and dominance of the organisms.”
Cunningham’s work is an extension of a study done over the spring semester by Waters and Shawn Kuhn ’06, who graduated in May with a B.A. biology.
“I developed the study with Shawn,” says Waters. “He was graduating so he was involved in the short term project of five weeks. Kevin actually came into the laboratory without pay or credits to learn from Shawn. That’s when you know the student is really interested in research. Clearly he demonstrated a willingness to do more.”
Cunningham is continuing to learn this summer.
“[Professor Waters and I] have good communication, and she puts on just the right amount of pressure so it is easy to be productive,” he says. “There is an invertebrate course that I haven’t been able to take yet, so I am learning the structures and anatomy, as well as working with equipment I have never used.”
He plans to attend graduate or medical school and believes his EXCEL work will help prepare him.
“I have always been interested in research, but this is the first real opportunity I’ve had,” he says. “I enjoy the freedom and control of the laboratory working environment. Plus this will give me a great deal of experience and shows my ability to work with others as well as on my own.”
Cunningham will spend the rest of the summer compiling information from the leaf bags. In the upcoming school year he will begin analyzing the data and he plans to build this project into an independent study or honors thesis.