1 / 8

Research Project

Research Project. Your chance to discover something new Develop your own research protocol Integrate: problem solving skills laboratory skills knowledge about how the natural world works information from others who have studied related systems. Ideas. Characterize composting

jodie
Download Presentation

Research Project

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Research Project • Your chance to discover something new • Develop your own research protocol • Integrate: • problem solving skills • laboratory skills • knowledge about how the natural world works • information from others who have studied related systems

  2. Ideas • Characterize composting • extent of biodegradation as function of moisture content • extent of biodegradation as function of temperature • Remediate VOC contaminated site • vapor phase extraction • capture VOC on activated carbon • measure VOC in gas stream coming from soil using Gas Chromatograph • Characterize endogenous decay of bacteria used in the DO sag experiment as a function of time

  3. More Ideas • Enhance particle removal by slow sand filtration using various “ripening agents” • Measure methane production from anaerobic digestion of garbage as a function of moisture content, inoculum volume, type of garbage, or …

  4. And More Ideas • Evaluate phosphorus removal through various porous media • Determine the cause of and eliminate the long tail for the Flow with Dispersion reactor • Evaluate extent of aeration required to bring our “lake” into CO2 equilibrium with the atmosphere • Build a semi-automated phosphorus analyzer

  5. Constraints • Is the experimental apparatus feasible? • What preparation is required? • bacteria cultures • assembly of apparatus • reagents • Waste generation • Safety! • Can it be done in two weeks? • Do we have the instruments for the measurements? • detection limits • sampling requirements-how fast does the system change?

  6. What has been done before? • Student research results from previous years • Consult researchers on campus • WWW • Literature search • books in the library • BIOSIS Previews via Cornell Library Web site http://campusgw.library.cornell.edu/

  7. Research Proposal (March 28) • In 2 pages describe your research project including the following: • State question or hypothesis • Describe experiment and how it will test the hypothesis • Describe method of data acquisition • State expectations based on previous research or what you know about the system • Plot graphs of potential results • Describe how you would interpret the results • Describe necessary data analysis • Cite at least 3 references

  8. Materials and Methods (April 16) • Develop step by step procedures based on mentally working through the experiment. • Describe apparatus setup • List quantities and source of reagents and supplies • Detail startup procedure • Describe how you will know when the experiment is over • Describe sampling and analysis procedures • Detail shutdown and waste disposal procedures

More Related