Bowdoin Student Scientists

Science in Informal Language by Students at Bowdoin College - Brunswick, Maine

Environmental Science

Solving the Chemical-Dirt Dilemma

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Solving the Chemical-Dirt Dilemma

This past summer, I worked in Bowdoin College Professor Dharni Vasudevan’s lab (funded by an NSF grant), researching soils interactions with chemicals. One of my favorite things about the research is its applicability and importance. While our research isn’t the easiest to explain to a non-scientist audience, I find the practicality of the research to be very easy to explain, which I believe is a testament to its importance. [Read more…] about Solving the Chemical-Dirt Dilemma

Pharmaceuticals on the Soil, Oh My!

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Pharmaceuticals on the Soil, Oh My!

I spend my time in lab mixing up different pharmaceuticals in water, shaking up that pharmaceutical/water solution with soil and then using a complicated instrument called the HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography instrument) to see how much of each pharmaceutical stays in the water and how much latches onto the soil (through a process called sorption). Our lab focuses on the movement of pharmaceuticals in the environment because, frankly, there are lots of pharmaceuticals floating around out there. Studies show that a large number of pharmaceuticals have been detected at measurable (μg/L and ng/L) concentrations in ground water and drinking water worldwide.1-9 [Read more…] about Pharmaceuticals on the Soil, Oh My!

LeadIn(g) The Way, by Karen Chan

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LeadIn(g) the Way

Introduction and relevance: In the fall of 2015, I collaborated with Danielle (the founder of this website) on a Chemical Analysis project examining lead—hence the pun in the title—in soil from community gardens. We examined soil samples from the Bowdoin Organic Garden (BOG) in Brunswick, ME and from the Clinton Community Garden (CCG) in NYC, NY. These gardens weren’t randomly chosen; the BOG is accessible and very prevalent in Bowdoin students’ lives, and the CCG is Danielle’s hometown garden with a history of high lead concentration. Lead, a heavy metal, is a common environmental contaminant that can cause damaging health effects. It’s a possible carcinogen and especially a concern for children, as studies have linked lead exposure to cognitive and behavioral complications1. Much of the produce from these gardens end up on dinner plates, so the results of this research are important. It’s hard to predict how much lead will end up in the plants grown in lead-contaminated soil, but there is a correlation between high lead concentration in soil and more lead detected on crops 2.

[Read more…] about LeadIn(g) The Way, by Karen Chan

Playing With Pyridines

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Playing With Pyridines

During the past summer and current academic year, I’ve been working in Professor Dharni Vasudevan’s environmental chemistry lab at Bowdoin College. For those in the Chemistry Department, this means that I’m part of “Team Dirt”: My senior research project is all about soil. Sometimes, when I’m explaining my research to non-scientists, saying “My research is about soil” is as far as I get. Sometimes this is all my audience really cares to hear, and a more in-depth description would be wasted. In more receptive company, I find myself grappling with the level of chemistry background of my audience as I try to explain what about soil I am actually researching—an interesting dilemma to find myself in considering that barely a year ago I was still struggling to understand my own project as I applied for summer fellowship to do research with Prof. Vasudevan. [Read more…] about Playing With Pyridines