For the past two days I have made an immense amount of progress on my independent study project. Dr. Sarah Oktay was kind enough to take me out to two groundwater wells on Wednesday 3/13 that I had not been to before. I took the normal measurements at each site such as salinity, total dissolved solids, pH, dissolved oxygen, etc. I then took water samples from each site and returned to the UMASS Field Station to do Nitrate and Phosphate tests. Nitrate levels were high for each site, but the water samples showed no change in color. They would usually turn amber if Nitrate was present in a high concentration. So, I decided to let all of my samples sit overnight and I returned today (Thursday 3/14) to retest them. Strangely enough, the Nitrate levels increased dramatically within the samples. Dr. O. explained to me that a possible reason for this hike in Nitrate concentration could be due to microbes in the water. These microbes transform atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia via the process of nitrogen fixation. I still don’t know all of the details but I will keep researching and hope to figure it out! Also, I put all of my data for my independent study into an Excel spreadsheet; Professor Ellen Dounglas would be proud!

Yesterday I began my independent study field work. My project involves sampling groundwater from various locations on Nantucket for Nitrate and Phosphate, two nutrients that are added to water via human activities. I went around to three groundwater wells with Emily MacKinnon of the Nantucket Land Council. We stopped and took various measurements including conductivity, salinity, dissolved oxygen, dissolved solids, pH, and temperature at the Umass Boston Field Station, Clarke’s Cove, and Hummock Pond. Emily was super helpful and showed me how to measure the depth of the groundwater and how to use all of the instruments. After taking water samples from the three locations, I then went back to the Field Station to perform Nitrate and Phosphate tests using the spectrophotometer. I did the tests multiple times to ensure accurate results. I found that nitrate levels were extremely low in all three locations while phosphate was prominent, especially at the Field Station well where I got a reading of 1.11 mg/L of Phosphate in the sample. This is a high level, most likely due to fertilizers seeping into the groundwater. I look forward to doing these tests weekly to find out where the problem areas are on Nantucket, so I can inform the community and hopefully measures can be taken to reduce these nutrients in our drinking water.

Today the group was taken on a plant identification trip through Squam Swamp by Kelly from the Nantucket Conservation Foundation (NCF). We saw some beautiful scenery, learned about the native plants on Nantucket, and even climbed a big Beech Tree. The landscape of Nantucket is so diverse; one day we are exploring the beaches and the next day we are wandering through a forest. It’s incredible and intriguing. Here are some pictures that I took during today’s adventure.