2023 STANSW Young Scientist Awards Presentation Ceremony
Scientific Investigations Earth and Environmental Science 11-12
Sophie Fox , Abbotsleigh , Investigating the effect of water pH on the health of Hormosira banksii embryos by examining the rate of change of growth , pigment concentration and survival .
Sophie harvested a common sea kelp , commonly known as Neptune ’ s Pearls , and spawned embryos , growing them in three different pH levels to investigate the effects on their maturation . Sophie found that there was no significant relationship between the pH of the water and the growth or the pigment concentration of the kelp embryos .
Jessica Jones , Menai High School , Microplastics , anything but a small problem - An investigation into how different sizes of Australia ' s most common waterway microplastic , Polyethylene , affects Daphnia Magnas physiological functions
Jessica added polyethylene microplastics with different particle sizes to cultures of water flea - a well-studied ecological model organism . She found that the smaller plastics had the biggest impact on the survival and swimming behaviour of the Daphnia . This is possibly because this size is more easily swallowed and may release more pollutants .
Abigail Kogan , Gosford High School , Demonstrating a climatic extinction catalyst through a meta-analysis of Neanderthal population distribution
Abigail created a comprehensive database of Neanderthal archeological sites as an indicator of their distribution at different points in history . Abigail found that glacial transitions , particularly a shift to a more arid climate , could have played a role in the extinction of this hominin species .
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