Budding 

 Scientists: 



Teens Join 

 Cutting-Edge 

 Research 



By Ann Green 

 Photographs by Michael Halmlnski 



K 



Lristi Herzer stands knee-deep in the Pamlico Sound 

 near Oregon Inlet, using a vacuum-like hose to suck up aquatic 

 creatures from sea-grass beds. 



"After you finish the sweep, use the dip net to make sure there 

 are no more jumping crabs," yells Lisa Etherington, a North Carolina 

 Sea Grant researcher and NC State University graduate student. 



With the help of NC State researchers, Herzer, a Manteo High 

 School senior, dumps the collection on board a small boat. Then she 

 examines the samples — from juvenile crabs as small as a quarter to 

 tiny shrimp. 



Herzer finds her first field research experience "fun and exciting. 

 I didn't realize there are so many living creatures in sea-grass beds." 



From August to October, Herzer and 26 other budding scientists 

 from Ocracoke School and Hatteras, Manteo, Mattamuskeet and East 

 Cartaret High Schools gather samples each day for North Carolina 

 Sea Grant researcher David Eggleston' s study on juvenile crabs. 



"It is interesting to find results that might be in a textbook some 

 day," says Manteo High School senior Chucky Ellison. 



Since 1995, Eggleston has been involving high school students 

 in his ongoing study on the recruitment of juvenile blue crabs. The 

 study is funded by the National Science Foundation, North Carolina 

 Sea Grant and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. 



The integration of high school students has been a "win- win 

 situation" and "critical to the success of this large-scale study," says 

 Eggleston, associate professor of marine sciences at NC State. 



"With their help, we have identified unique and until now 

 undocumented nursery habitats for early juvenile crabs, as well as 

 the role of hurricane storm surges and northeasterlies on transporting 

 large numbers of settlement-stage blue crabs into the Pamlico and 

 Croatan sounds," he adds. 



"After Hurricane Dennis, we had a huge peak in blue crab 

 settlements at Englehard in Hyde County. Through this experience, 

 the students gain hands-on experience in the scientific method and 

 increase their knowledge of coastal resource issues." 



The students collect samples on docks as well as in sea-grass 

 beds in Pamlico Sound and seven other coastal locations. On the 

 docks, the students pull an artificial settlement habitat out of Oregon 

 Inlet. By using air-conditioning filter material to collect the crabs, the 

 scientists are simulating a natural habitat. Then the students rinse the 

 samples, strain the water and put the samples — which are sometimes 

 as small as fleas — in jars that go to a lab. 



"The data will give researchers information on the number of 

 crabs moving through the water column," says Eggleston. "Blue crabs 

 are the dominant predator in North Carolina's estuary system" and the 

 state's top commercial fishery species. 



During the collections, the students develop camaraderie with 

 researchers and get a close-up of marine life. While standing on the 

 sea-grass beds, Etherington guides the students in the research process 

 and quizzes them about the different stages in a crab's life cycle. 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 13 



Kristi Herzer looks on as Chucky Ellison peers 

 through a spectrometer to check the salinity level, 

 while David Eggleston watches water activity. 



