Belmont students earn grant for research on effects of road salt

BELMONT — Two Belmont Students were awarded a $5,000 grant from the Marjot Foundation. The grant will allow the students to conduct research on the effects of road salt on forest and lotic ecosystems. One of the students, freshman Chris Pare said, “Sometimes the things that we consider to be safe to use, such as road salt, proves to have vast effects on local ecosystems. What we hope to do through this grant is to develop and understand the extent of its impact here in our community.” The other student, junior Mercede Mycintyre, said, “For me starting to look at college and wanting to major in earth science and become a wildlife biologist, this is such a great opportunity. It’s an even bigger opportunity for Chris to see what being in the field is like. We also will be going to a meeting with the Conservation Commission in Belmont to update them on our research.”

Over the next year, Chris and Mercede will collect data within the Tioga watershed. They will focus on two areas under the wetlands ecosystem around the Tiago River. One area is downstream from the road, and the other is upstream. From these areas, the students will use a data logging system to collect water conductivity, air temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, solar radiation, and soil moisture at a high resolution. Chris and Mercede will collect a variety of field data ranging from species diversity chlorophyll concentrations within plant species as well as snow depth, density, and salinity within the identified study sites. Data will be analyzed for patterns, and any relationships identified will be supported by graphs or statistical analyses.

Mercede and Chris will have help and guidance from Adrien Deshaies, science teacher at Belmont High School. Deshaies said, “This is a rare opportunity for high school students. Not only are they pursuing their own ideas and methods for collecting data, but the length and extent of the research is not typically experienced by students until much later into post secondary programs.” He will mentor Chris and Mercede through the process, and will present their final results next spring.