Science Summer School hots up with acid sulfate soil field trip

Southern Cross University Science Summer School students inspected the Tuckean Swamp, an important acid sulfate soil area near Ballina on the NSW Far North Coast, this week (January 16) for the first of three group field trips.

The seven 2014 SCU Science Summer School students inspected the Tuckean Swamp’s flood mitigation drains, culverts and floodgates as they examined the effects of acid sulfate soils on water quality, soil health and aquatic ecology.

The students have travelled from across Australia and around the world to participate in the Science Summer School. While two students are completing their degrees at SCU, four of the students are from universities in Adelaide, Armidale, Bathurst and Melbourne.

Another student, André Samayoa, is from Mexico’s Universidad del Mar.

The SCU Science Summer School, now in its fourth year, gives undergraduates and recent graduates the opportunity to team up with one of Southern Cross University’s leading researchers to undertake a short science-based project over a four week period in January each year, with the support of the University’s Special Research Centres Southern Cross GeoScience and Southern Cross Plant Science, along with the School of Environment, Science and Engineering.

Professor Leigh Sullivan, founding Director of Southern Cross Geoscience, led today’s field trip to the Tuckean Swamp.

Professor Sullivan said the visit to the waterway provided students with an opportunity to find out about the fields of research undertaken at SCU, as well as highlighted some of the great things about the region.

“The Tuckean Swamp is a very well-known acid sulfate soil area, one that has contributed to our understanding of the issue immensely.

“The area has been a study site for many ground breaking research projects, including our own work on Monosulfidic Black Ooze (MBO), a substance which we now know contributes to low oxygen levels in these waterways.

“It is a perfect site to visit as part of the SCU Science Summer School,” Professor Sullivan said.

Other group field trips planned for this month will focus on coastal geography, with a visit to Byron Bay; and agricultural land use in the region, with visits to cane farms, macadamia orchards and tea tree plantations.

This is in addition to the individual research projects the students are working on which will see them undertake specific field and laboratory work with their supervisors.

The students’ research projects are:

‘Getting to the root of adaptive variation in Tea Tree’
Student: Kimberly McCallum from the University of Adelaide
Supervisor: Dr Merv Shepherd, Southern Cross Plant Science

‘What is the nature of the rice grain amylose-lysophospholipid relationship?’
Student: Matthew Welling from Southern Cross University
Supervisors: Dr Daniel Waters, Dr Lei Liu and Dr Terry Rose, Southern Cross Plant Science

‘Environmental chemistry of coastal wetlands: Acid sulfate soils, element cycling, water quality and wetland sustainability’
Student: Susan Oeding from Southern Cross University
Supervisor: Professor Richard Bush, Southern Cross GeoScience

‘Measuring secure carbon biosequestration in plants’
Student: Laura McKinley from the University of New England
Supervisor: Professor Leigh Sullivan, Southern Cross Geoscience

‘How will ocean acidification affect calcium carbonate formation rates?’
Student: André Samayoa from the Universidad del Mar, Campus Pto Angel
Supervisor: Associate Professor Andrew Rose, Southern Cross GeoScience

‘How do plant root exudates solubilise phosphorus from the soil?’
Student: Hayley Ellis from Monash University
Supervisor: Dr Terry Rose, Southern Cross Plant Science

‘Bridging between computer science and geoscience: building user friendly software for clumsy geoscientists’
Student: Brett Walker from Charles Sturt University
Supervisor: Dr Renaud Joannes-Boyau, Southern Cross GeoScience

Photo: SCU Science Summer School students (l to r) Hayley Ellis, Matthew Welling and Laura McKinley observe an acid sulfate soil test.