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My name is Annabelle Rayson and I’m a grade 11 student who is passionate about improving the world around me, helping people and solving problems. I’m a competitive curler, volunteer youth curling coach and member of my school’s curling team. I play the violin, viola and alto saxophone and perform in my school’s concert band. I’m the Chair of the Sarnia Shoebox Project, a non-profit charity that provides holiday gifts for homeless women and the Co-Chair of my school’s Social Justice Club. I sit on my Member of Parliament’s Youth Advisory Board and the Ontario Youth Environment Council. I have participated in science fairs for 8 years, attending 3 Canada Wide Science Fairs, with projects focusing on environment and sustainability.
Tell us what the water concern in your country is!In Canada, there are a variety of water concerns. Our freshwater environments are under attack from invasive species, plastic pollution, nutrient pollution, chemical spills, harmful algae blooms, and decalcification. These factors result in the destruction of biodiversity and freshwater ecosystem health and has detrimental health and economic effects on Canadians.
Plankton Wars: An Innovative Analysis of Daphnia Genotype Biomanipulations for Algae Bloom Prevention
Harmful algae blooms plague aquatic ecosystems around the world. They impact water quality and ecosystem diversity, cause dead zones, and cost the fishing and tourism industries millions of dollars. In this project, different genotypes of Daphnia magna were compared for algae consumption. The most effective genotype was then tested under different environmental conditions to see which factors helped or hindered their success at harmful algae bloom treatment and prevention. It was discovered that genotype 4 is the ideal genotype of D. magna to biomanipulate to treat and prevent harmful algae blooms, can effectively do this in nutrient and plastic polluted environments, and can have their health and success improved through calcium carbonate and naturally occurring aquatic microbes.
