Spring 2007
Here are the research topics for this spring.. To go directly to your group's topic, just click on its number in the table below.
Check out our research links page for help getting started and hyperlinks to some popular science magazines and search engines.
Research Paper Topics
Spring 2007
Group 1 — What can the study of various species tell us about our environment and its quality or lack there of? Tell me about indicator species (such as frogs). Why are they such an important measuring stick for the quality of our environment? What do the problems effecting these species mean to humans? Are scientists sure why so many species seem to be disappearing or is it just a portion of the frogs' evolutionary journey?
Group 2 — Give the history of the Spotted Owl as an indicator species. Explain both sides of the famous controversy surrounding saving the Spotted Owl and old growth forests. Did the opposing sides ever learn to compromise? How could compromise have been achieved, or is that possible in such a volatile atmosphere? Where does the Spotted Owl stand in the environmental scheme of things today?
Group 3 — Environmental disasters, such as oil spills and toxic waste dumps, place severe stress on the planet. Explain the circumstances around the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. What happened, how was it resolved, what are the lingering effects on the people involved as well as the environment? Did we learn anything from what happened? Were any measures taken to keep such an incident from happening again?
Group 4 — One of the most famous environmental disasters of the past 20 years centered around Love Canal in New York. Explain what happened. How was the issue resolved? What has happened to the area involved? Could Love Canal happen today? What can be done to see that it doesn't happen again? What are the lingering affects of that disaster to the New York area as well as to the people involved and the country as a whole?
Group 5 — Researchers have developed new ways of coping with environmental disasters, especially oil spills. Discuss bioremediation and the use of unique bacteria to clean up spilled oil. What are the requirements to use the bacteria? Is only one type used, or is it a multi-layered approach? Examine other ways scientists are developing 'critters' to clean up the environment (such as PCBs).
Group 6 — Discuss the use of beneficials -- insects which can be used in agriculture in lieu of pesticides. How effective are they? Is it possible they could eventually replace the use of pesticides ini agriculture, or would that pose another whole new set of problems? Beneficials include, among other things, spined soldier bugs, predatory mites, encarsia formosa, beneficial nematodes and parasitic wasps.
Group 7 — Examine bioagriculture. This includes therapeutic farming (growing genetically engineered plants for pharmaceutical drugs); biochemical farming (developing plants to provide industrial products); plastic farming (growing plants to provide polymers which could replace oil-based plastics); and fuel farming (growing crops for use as fuels). What is the future of these endeavors and just how will they benefit mankind and the planet? Has there been any progress in the use of these materials? What are some possible hazards?
Group 8 — Discuss the phenomenon of shrinking species and what it means to our planet. Is it caused by human activity or is it normal planetary activity? If the number of shrinking species is growing, why? You might take the tact that man is causing these extinctions. What is he doing to cause them, what changes need to be made to stem the tide? Be sure to address the problem of genetic diversity and what its loss means to us and the planet.
Group 9 — Why are islands so prone to species upset? Throughout the historical record, what has man done to cause islandary species extinction? Can anything be done to protect these closed-loop societies? The Hawaiian Islands are a prime example of what man does to island environments. Examine the environmental history of the Hawaiian Islands, beginning with the arrival of the missionaries several hundred years ago.
Group 10 — Discus biodiversity crises as advanced in several popular books (see Earth magazine, "Life On The Brink," April, 1997, Page 26). How does this compare to island extinctions? What will the exploration of island extinctions and their causes tell us about diverting such crises across the globe? Why would we want to?
Group 11 -- Explore pharmaceuticals and the creation of new medicines. How do companies come up with new medicines? Why is it important to maintain species diversity for the future of medicine? How does species diversity plan into medical research? What are some prime areas of the planet yielding new medicines to man?
Group 12 -- Discuss the problems associated with using antibiotics and what path their overuse is leading us down. Has this lead to the reappearance of deadly diseases once though eradicated? How will we be able to cope should our common drugs become useless? What can we do to prevent that from happening?