A paper on the ocean acidification research conducted by McCallie seniors Ian Bruntetz and Shrayen Daniel, in collaboration with Rachel Thayer of the Tennessee Aquarium and science teacher Dr. Karah Nazor, will be published in the March issue of the Journal of Invertebrate Zoology.
Ian is a day student from Chattanooga and the son of Courtney Brunetz and Neil Brunetz. Shrayen is a day student from Chattanooga and the son of Biju and Nisha Daniel.
The publication of their paper is the culmination of three and a half years of research, which was overseen by Dr. Nazor. For their project, they did three trials with nine tanks of Cassiopeia jellyfish (also called “upside-down jellyfish” because they spend most of their time resting on their backs). The students changed the PH level of the water in the tanks, then observed changes in the jellyfishes’ appearance and behavior and measured the pulses per minute and the size of the bell diameter of each.
The students even worked through COVID and spent volunteer hours at the Tennessee Aquarium to continue their research.
Once they gathered all the data, they sought help with data analysis from Cecelia Wigal, an engineering professor at UTC. The students determined that a higher acidity level in seawater causes a decrease in pulse rates and bell diameter in their jellyfish subjects.
The paper was submitted to the journal last summer. After peer review, multiple revisions were required and even some of their data analysis had to be re-done.
The expected publication date is March 2022.
Article:
"Severe seawater acidification causes a significant reduction in pulse rate, bell diameter, and acute deterioration in feeding apparatus in the scyphozoan medusa Cassiopeia sp."
R. Thayer 1* , I.A. Brunetz 2 , S.J. Daniel 2 , C. M. Wigal 3 , K. E. Nazor 2*
1 Tennessee Aquarium,1 Broad Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402, U.S.A.
2 McCallie School, Scientific Research Program – Biology, 500 Dodds Ave, Chattanooga
TN 37405, U.S.A.
3 University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, College of Engineering and Computer Science, 615 McCallie Ave, Chattanooga, TN 37403, U.S.A.