City Tech Students’ Water Quality Research Yields Surprising Results
Brooklyn, NY -- September 28, 2010 -- While their peers were going to beaches and lakes to get
a respite from the summer heat, a group of New York City College of Technology (City Tech)
students were going to the water, too -- to the Gowanus Canal and the Hudson River -- as part of
an interdisciplinary summer project that allowed them to get hands-on experience conducting
and analyzing research.
Under the direction of City Tech Professors Urmi Ghosh-Dastidar (mathematics) and Liana
Tsenova (biological sciences), the nine students found that one of the Hudson River sites had
surprisingly high levels of E. coli.
The project, “Bio-Math Mapping: Water Quality Analysis of the Hudson and Gowanus,” allowed
the students, all but one of whom are majoring in applied mathematics at City Tech, the
opportunity to combine mathematics with epidemiology, microbiology and environmental
studies through a four-week investigation of water quality in nearby bodies of water. They were
given a crash course in statistics and microbiology by Professors Ghosh-Dastidar and Tsenova.
The research project included one day of gathering water samples from six different sites along
the Hudson River and the Gowanus Canal. Then, the project shifted indoors to a microbiology
lab at City Tech where the students tested and analyzed the water samples for the total number of
bacteria and coliforms (including E. coli) present to gauge the level of fecal contamination of the
two waterways. In addition, antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) were examined. They then
performed statistical analyses on the data they obtained.
The students were aware that according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the
water quality of the Gowanus Canal is currently extremely polluted and poses a serious threat to
public health. In contrast, the water quality of Hudson River, a major recreation water source, is
"generally acceptable.” However, the students found statistically significant variations of E. coli
and ARB among the Hudson River sites. This is due to the varying levels of human and business
activities along the shoreline.
“While at most of the Hudson River sites sampled, the water was within the allowed range for
recreational purposes, water taken from the 79th Street site in Manhattan showed E. coli counts
high enough to suggest that an advisory needs to be issued and further monitoring undertaken,”
says Professor Ghosh-Dastidar. She and Professor Tsenova agree that further analysis of each
site is recommended and they are hoping to receive funding to continue the project with their
students.
The Gowanus Canal water samples, on the other hand, showed higher numbers of total bacteria
and lower levels of E. coli, compared to the Hudson. “Students were able to see how the
industrial waste and toxic material present in the canal have caused a decrease in oxygen levels,
making it difficult for organisms requiring oxygen to live and reproduce,” Tsenova notes.
This water quality research project was funded by City Tech’s National Science Foundation
(NSF) Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program (STEP)
grant. Three of the nine students were supported through the CUNY Louis B. Stokes Alliance for
Minority Participation (LSAMP) grant.
Overseeing the NSF STEP grant is City Tech’s Dean of Arts & Sciences, Pamela Brown.
Regarding the bio-mapping summer research project, she says, “This type of work enhances the
intellectual vitality of the College and leads to innovations in the curriculum. There are also other
tangible benefits that are harder to measure -- the potentially transformative impact that the
mentor has on a student’s confidence and determination to succeed; the sense of personal
satisfaction the faculty member feels.” 201
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This was the first research experience for City Tech sophomore Karmen Yu, who says it was
eye-opening for many reasons. “The project exposed me to microbiology, a subject that I, as a
math major, never would have studied otherwise and which I found very interesting,” she
explains. “I was very surprised that the E. coli levels in the Hudson were so high. Also, I had
never taken a statistics course, so I had to learn it in the course of doing the research. Now, I
really understand how to use statistics to analyze research, and what I learned gave me a head
start on the statistics class I’m taking this fall.”
Yu, a Crown Heights resident, plans to go on for a master’s in applied mathematics and then a
doctorate in education so she can teach at the college level. “I’ve been a math tutor for several
years and have a real passion for teaching others so they can do well in math.”
The Hudson-Gowanus project culminated with the students presenting their findings in
Pittsburgh last month at MathFest 2010, an event organized by the Mathematical Association of
America. Professors Tsenova and Ghosh-Dastidar plan to submit their comparative research
findings to academic journals and present their results at City Tech’s research conference during
this academic year.
The largest public college of technology in New York State, New York City College of
Technology (City Tech) of The City University of New York enrolls more than 15,400 students
in 62 baccalaureate, associate and specialized certificate programs. An additional 15,000 students
annually enroll in continuing education and workforce development programs. Located at 300
Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn, City Tech is at the MetroTech Center academic and
commercial complex, convenient to public transportation.
Caption:
Working with Hudson River water samples are, from left to right: Jodi Ann-Young, Karmen Yu,
Jorge Paucar and Steven Lora. Photo credit: Urmi Ghosh-Dastidar.