Biology team explores ocean acidification

YVC Instructor Jerred Seveyka’s Biology 223 course provides students the opportunity to develop a research project with a faculty mentor. During the spring of 2018, students Kathy Cousins and Brandon Beskow approached Seveyka with an idea for a joint project.

“Kathy and Brandon met with me to discuss a project that I had been working on for many years, the development of a model of ocean acidifcation using a living calcifying organism,” stated Seveyka. “One of the major problems associated with climate change is the acidifcation of the ocean that is occurring due to elevated atmospheric CO2 levels.”

The team used a calcifying alga and grew it under diferent pH conditions to see if it would calcify at diferent rates. The students found success on an early version of this lab by adding drops of acids or bases to the solution that the algae were growing in. Cousins continued to work on the project through a summer research project before transferring to Washington State University.

“For the next couple of years we continued to collaborate, modify and test the lab using diferent equipment and solutions. Ultimately, we developed a simple setup for teachers and wrote a manuscript to guide teachers on how to use this living organism to explore ocean acidifcation,” continued Seveyka. This year the team submitted the completed manuscript to the American Biology Teacher journal for review and it was accepted for publication. The work, titled “Hands-On Exploration of Ocean Acidifcation with a Living Calcifer,” is expected to be published in early January 2021.