Under the Sea

Senior Gabrielle Palluch researched marine biology at Australia's Great Barrier Reef this summer. Program participants joined marine biologists for a 10-hour excursion to study the life forms that make up the reef's ecosystem.

A specially outfitted vessel ferried the group to the reef. While traveling to the reef, participants were able to question the experts and discuss the latest migration patterns of certain sea creatures, as well as the increase or decrease of specific sea life.

"One of my favorite parts of the whole trip was definitely sitting down and personally talking to the marine biologists. They were really insightful and had all this information about different types of fish and other creatures that I didn't even know existed,” explained Gabrielle. “It was really interesting to know that they did this as a job and got to encounter so many beautiful animals each day.”

Once at the reef participants used scuba or snorkeling equipment to dive into the Saxton Reef where they attempted to memorize different coral, plant, fish, and other sea life they observed, while estimating the quantity of said life forms. The group also studied the coral and observed its behavior to determine the overall health of the reef.

"Another part of the trip that I thought was amazing was being able to scuba dive," Gabrielle said. "I had never done it before so it was really cool that my first time was in the Great Barrier Reef.”

It was a whole other world down there, all the fish would swim right next to us as if we weren't even there,” Gabrielle continued. We got close enough we could glide our fingers across them as they swam by. One group went down and saw a white tip reef shark, which I thought was amazing."

Through review of their individual observations, the group determined that there were several issues such as a slight increase of coral bleaching, and low numbers for certain fish. Neither discovery proved to be cause for alarm, but the information informed biologists that future observation would be required.

Another issue the group discovered was more alarming.

"One of the things that I was shocked to learn was that people who ride out to the reef tend to litter," Gabrielle said. "We were told that the litter has caused many deaths to certain creatures out on the reef.”

 Sea turtles, who often eat jellyfish, discover plastic bags that were left behind and eat them. Their bodies are unable to digest plastic, which leads to the deaths of many turtles.

“We were told that there are special expeditions designed to go out into the reef and clean up trash,” explained Gabrielle. “Removing the trash has increased marine life by 15% in the past 6 years.”

Gabrielle encourages anyone who loves the ocean and aquatic life to experience a trip such as hers.

"It's so much fun and you forget that by doing this you’re helping not just the community of people, but the sea community. It really is a great, once in a life time experience and I highly recommending it!"

The Great Race

The Chartiers Valley High School boys basketball team hit the streets of Pittsburgh for the Great Race on September 28, 2014. This was the team’s 22nd straight year running the race.  

This year, the team had 23 runners, including players, coaches and the team’s book keeper.  Everybody participated in the 10K race.

“The purpose of running the Great Race is conditioning and team building,” said Coach McConnell. “It is also to show the players that they can accomplish something they weren’t sure they could do.”

Sophomore Nick Jessloski came in first place in his division (ages 14-16) and placed 52nd overall out of more than 10,000 runners in the 10K.

Senior Matty McConnell even participated, despite his injury. Matty was still recovering from a broken ankle at the time of the race and was not permitted to run. However, he walked the entire course and still finished as part of the team!

Congratulations to the team for keeping this tradition alive!

The basketball team at the Great Race.

CV sophomore, Nick Jessloski, placed 1st in his division.

For the Love of the Lab

Junior Stephen Lau attended Project SEED – an eight week summer program at Duquesne University.

Project SEED was established in 1968 to help high school students expand their education and career outlook. The program provides opportunities for students to spend a summer conducting hands-on research with a scientist in academic, industry, and government research laboratories. Students receive a fellowship award for their efforts and a chance to receive a SEED college scholarship.

The Pittsburgh Section of the American Chemical Society sponsors several students each summer at Duquesne University, under the direction of Dr. Jennifer Aitken.  Stephen was one of those students! As a result, he had the opportunity to conduct research alongside undergraduate students in the Madura Lab at Duquesne University.

The focus of Stephen’s research was the abstract idea that the binding free energy between a protein and a small molecule is an important quantity in the drug discovery process.

Stephen learned many scientific terms and processes throughout the program. Since he was working with computational science, he also learned how to use different computer programs. At the conclusion of the program, Stephen created a poster for the Undergraduate Research Program Symposium that highlighted his research topic.

“One of my favorable moments I had at Duquesne was during the symposium,” said Stephen. “It was a wonderful time for everyone I met, including myself, to enjoy the progress they made this summer. It was a time where we showed people what we did, learned, and achieved with our research.”

Although the symposium was a great day for Stephen and the other researchers to share their hard work with others, it also signaled the end of the program.

“It was sad to know that it was the last day for the undergraduates,” said Stephen. “I personally don't like saying goodbyes because you know that there's a slim chance of seeing them again. I am going to miss everyone, especially the undergraduates in my lab group.”

“I became good friends with everyone in the Madura Lab and didn't feel like an outsider at all,” Stephen continued. “They always helped me out in any way possible, even if it was simple problem like using an iMac.”

Stephen also had the opportunity to present his research findings to the other participants and Bayer employees at the Celebrating Project SEED event at Bayer.

Stephen would recommend this program to others because it gives students the opportunity to work with real scientists at a college level. The Project SEED students worked on the exact same work as the undergraduate students. According to Stephen, the experience is worth it – especially if students have an interest in a career in a science field.