Zoology Professors Join Forces to Analyze Lake Pollution

Thursday, August 27, 2009

(Aug. 27, 2009, STILLWATER, Okla.) – An assistant professor in zoology at Oklahoma State University has received a substantial grant from the National Science Foundation to examine the effects of long-term pollution on lake ecosystems and how it impacts the livelihood of organisms that inhabit them.

OSU zoologist Puni Jeyasingh and Lawrence Weider, a zoology professor at the University of Oklahoma, were awarded a $780,000 grant with OSU receiving $414,000.

The two investigators will examine how aquatic organisms cope with drastically altered environments caused by nutrient pollution. “The study will not only examine the effects of long-term pollution on aquatic ecosystems but also provide valuable information on how organisms evolve in natural environments,” Jeyasingh said.

The investigators say the study is the first of its type and have targeted lakes in Canada and Minnesota where eggs have laid dormant for more than 50 years. “The environment was completely different 50 to 60 years ago and we now are capable of hatching the old eggs and comparing them with today’s eggs to learn how the genetics and physiology have changed,” Jeyasingh said. “The possibility of using new-age genomic tools on individuals hatched from eggs laid before we understood the structure of the DNA in the 1950s is fascinating,”

Specifically, the researchers will compare how phosphorus affects today’s aquatic life vs. that of 50 years ago. “In the last 50 years the amount of phosphorus going into lakes has increased 100-fold and we want to find out how these animals are coping,” Jeyasingh said.

Controlling phosphorus and other chemicals flowing into lakes from farm runoff and urban pollution is growing increasingly difficult with newly invented chemicals showing up in the market every day. The EPA estimates there are approximately 100,000 commercial chemicals in use. Of these, approximately 40,000 are used in the Great Lakes Basin.

“The project is an example of how expertise at different Oklahoma universities can unite and solve complex scientific questions,” said Loren Smith, professor and head of the zoology department at OSU.

To learn more about the zoology department at OSU, visit http://zoology.okstate.edu. The zoology department is one of 24 departments in the College of Arts and Sciences at OSU.