Relationship Between Wastewater and FP in Turtles
Maddux Alexander Springer · Honolulu, Hawaii
Peggy Scripps Award for Science Communication ($10,000) · Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair · 2024
Field research on fibropapillomatosis in green sea turtles, examining its relationship to wastewater input, invasive algae, and the amino acid arginine as a possible mechanistic link.
A proposed chain — nutrients to algae to arginine to disease — rather than a bare correlation between pollution and sickness. Naming the intermediate step is what makes the hypothesis testable.
- Field surveys of green sea turtles
- Fibropapillomatosis prevalence scoring
- Wastewater and nutrient measurement
- Arginine pathway analysis
- Propose the mechanism between cause and effect; the intermediate step is where the testable prediction lives
- Local ecosystems give you access, repeat visits, and a reason to care that a judge can feel
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