Junior Environmental and Conservation Biology undergraduate student Nora Haddon is making important contributions to understanding the delicate balance of nutrient cycling in wetlands through her research project as part of 5X's Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program, with support from the Environmental Science and Design Research Institute (ESDRI). Mentored by Lauren Kinsman-Costello, PhD, Associate Professor of the in the Department of Biological Sciences, Nora's work focuses on the impact of climate change on nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics in a restored wetland at Trumbull Creek.
Nora describes her research as essential in the face of increasingly unpredictable precipitation and prolonged droughts. “My research project was focused on understanding how nutrients (specifically nitrogen and phosphorus) flow and fluctuate in a wetland during flooding and drying events,” she explains. “Since climate change is impacting precipitation events as well as changing drought conditions to be longer and harsher, it is vital that we understand how these changes can impact wetland nutrient and hydrologic cycling.”
To delve into this complex ecosystem, Nora collected soil core samples from both inundated and non-inundated areas of the wetland. Back in the lab, she flooded these cores, cycling water from the wetland through them for three days and analyzing the dissolved nutrients each day. “We then drained all the cores after those three days and left them in the incubator to dry for three days before reflooding and repeating the first half of the experiment,” she details.
One of the most enlightening aspects of her project was mastering the intact core incubation technique for soil samples. “It was so cool to go out into the field and gain the experience of taking samples in a way I had never seen or done before,” Nora reflects. “The most interesting thing I observed during my project has to be the physical reduction-oxidation reactions in the soil cores when they dried. It was so interesting to see the soil change color to a red/brown from a dark brown. I feel like I learned so much about nutrient cycling as well, and I now have a better understanding of how redox, nitrogen cycling, and phosphorus cycling works.”
However, the journey wasn’t without its challenges. Nora noted that planning the project posed difficulties due to the myriad of ideas she and her partner, who was doing a similar, but different project at the same site, had. “We had so many ideas for this project, it became difficult to figure out what would be the best option and suit our needs best,” she admits. “At the beginning, we had so many questions we wanted to answer and ended up with a lot of variables. We ended up having to pare down the project a lot and focus on one thing instead.”
Despite these initial hurdles, the guidance from her mentor was instrumental in refining their approach. “We realized that since neither of us had been to the site before sampling, it was a bit difficult to picture what we would be doing, but our mentor helped us out a lot and helped direct our project a lot better.”
Reflecting on the support she received from ESDRI, Nora shared that while she felt capable of managing her project independently, the support provided her with valuable resources and opportunities for discussion regarding future career paths. “Having the funding from ESDRI [for the SURE program] was beneficial to my experience because I was able to complete my project and gain more experience in the field." Nora received excellent support from her mentor and lab mates and thus didn't need to lean on ESDRI much, but states, "It was still very nice to know that I had some extra support if I needed it.”
Through her research, Nora is not only contributing to the understanding of wetland ecosystems but also laying the groundwork for her future in environmental science. As she continues to explore the complexities of nutrient dynamics, her work underscores the critical importance of wetlands in our changing climate.