Project:

CSHL Research Proposal

Students:

Tayab Ijaz, Parker Chea, Scott Coia, Edward Gabrielyan

School:

The Queens School of Inquiry, Queens

Mentors:

Cindy Roter

Abstract:

In order to find new organisms to achieve a greater insight upon the ecosystems which surround us and the biodiversity in our environments we, Queens School of Inquiry, are going out to find organisms in our surrounding area. We are bringing GPS location for each organism we collect and we will be barcoding their dna in order to find out if we have any potential new organisms which we don’t have prior insight on. It is important to find new organisms and examine them because it gives us a better understanding on how our environment is causing adaptations in our organisms. For instance, if we were to find an common worm but when we check its DNA it inhibits traits that its ancestors didn’t have we can assume that it is a new trait gained from its surroundings and the need to adapt. A newly discovered species may be a species that is completely new to science, or one which has previously been described but is subsequently found to be made up of two or more separate species.

Poster:

Team samples: