Project:

Ants as a Bioindicator of Land Pollution Near Grumman

Students:

Alexa Maraboli, Molly Byrne

School:

St. Dominic High School, Nassau

Mentors:

Pamela Shanley

Abstract:

In the 1930s, Northrop Grumman, an aerospace and defense corporation responsible for research, fabrication, and primary assembly of various military aircraft and spacecraft conducted many experiments in Bethpage which generated mass amounts of inorganic and volatile organic wastes such as TCE, PCB, chromium, and arsenic (Admin).Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, several soil tests on this land have shown contaminants are still present in the soil at this location (Leskovjan). If there is a lower ant diversity calculated using Simpson’s diversity index at Bethpage Community Park compared to other parks on Long Island, then this may suggest that the chemicals released by Grumman act a selective pressure on the ants and thus decrease the ant diversity in that area. We will use the pitfall trap for collection of ants and Chelex DNA isolation using the primer CO1. We will then conduct PCR to amplify the DNA in addition to running gel electrophoresis to ensure these steps were successful, and

Poster:

Team samples: