Megan Rice '11
Survival and growth of Pomacea insularum hatchlings after water stress.
Click on the small photo icon for my own personal gallery:
Research Summary:I spent two years working in the apple snail lab and even tried a number of different projects. My
initial interest focused on the impact of nutrients, especially nitrogen, on the snails. I tried to maintain this theme in my
experiments. I learned that the "RE" in "research" means redo a lot of the time. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out
how to get reliable periphyton to grow in the lab so that we could compare consumption of it with aquatic macrophytes.
Alas, neither cultured periphyton nor synthetically created periphyton seemed to stay together and do the trick for experiments.
However, I did not let this bum me out and continued with my interest in nutrient enrichmnent. My senior year I ended up doing
an experiment that worked! So exciting! I examined how hatchlings from water stressed environments survived and grew under
different nutrient levels. I found that while they do hatch at a high efficiency, island apple snail hatchlings do seem
vulnerable to high level of nutrients, particularly nitrogen. I also had the opportunity to accompany Dr. Burks on a research
trip to Argentina and Uruguay where we worked with international partners in grant planning.
Where I've been and Where I'm going:
Although I loved my work in the snail lab, my career interests have always
been on the medical side of biology. I'm now on my way to medical school in Houston....
