November 20, 2008

 

By Lindsay Key ‘11MFA

 

A new $582,468 grant from the National Science Foundation will allow UNCW geochemists to continue studying reactions that occur when sunlight hits free-floating sediment in bodies of water. Since 2000, researchers have collected sediment and water samples from river beds, ranging from the Cape Fear River to the Elizabeth River in Virginia. Researchers mimic sunlight by using a solar stimulator, and observe how organic matter and heavy metals like copper and lead are released from sediments into the water during the reaction.

 

Materials released by these reactions can be dangerous or beneficial, depending on the amount and type of the material being released, said Steve Skrabal, a professor and assistant chair in the department of chemistry and biochemistry. The release of carbon from organic materials can feed and nourish marine plants and animals, but the release of some metals, like lead, into the water can be harmful to plants, animals, and humans.

 

Faculty and students working on the research project have already proven that sunlight is important to the reaction, Skrabal said. But the new grant will allow researchers to go a step further and study what it is about the chemical make-up of the sediment that makes it reactive or not reactive when light is shined on it.

 

The grant is expected to be funded for three years, and money will go towards purchasing equipment and paying the salaries of faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students working on the research project, Skrabal said. He is co-leading the project, entitled “RUI: Photobiogeochemistry of resuspended sediments in coastal environments: Impacts on organic material and trace metal cycling,” with UNCW scientists Brooks Avery, Bob Kieber, and Ralph Mead.

 

The project is unique in that it allows undergraduate students significant research experience. Between 4 and 6 undergraduate students will work intensely on the project during the summer as assistants to three graduate student researchers, who work with faculty on the project year-round. The research is important because sediment resuspension happens world-wide, Skrabal said, from the Cape Fear River to the Mississippi River to the Amazon River.

 

“Our group is one of the first in the world to look at how sunlight affects sediments,” he said.

 

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