绿奴天花板

Marine chemistry major Leah Manous 鈥�26 is researching trace metal concentrations and evidence of corrosion in Tampa Bay waterways.

She and her mentor, Kelly Deister, assistant professor of chemistry, compare water samples from locations in relation to bridges, including on the Alafia and Hillsborough rivers, to determine whether the bridges鈥� corroding construction materials might contribute to the concentrations of trace metals, including copper, lead, zinc, iron and aluminum.

Corrosion leads to instability and a lack of structural integrity and can affect the biogeochemistry of the water. While research has been done in other countries, not much has been done in the Tampa Bay area, according to the pair.

Manous and Deister collected water samples in February from the Hillsborough River from directly under two bridges, and then from two sites farther away.

The samples were then analyzed for contaminants using a measuring device called an inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometer.听听

The pair hypothesized that the metals concentrations would be higher in water from under a bridge compared with water from sites farther away. However, the data collected reflected the opposite is partially true, as concentrations of trace materials were higher away from the bridges than under them. They predict this may be because of the type of protective coatings on the bridges.

The goal of the research is to discern how corrosion of bridges impacts the surrounding water and overall marine chemistry in the bay.

This is Manous鈥� second year working on the project. Last year, she attended the American Chemical Society Conference in San Diego to present her research.

鈥淥n that poster, we talked about how it鈥檚 really hard to say, 鈥極h, this is because of corrosion,鈥� because there are so many interactions with ions. So it鈥檚 hard to pinpoint,鈥� she said.

To combat this, Manous is trying to study more bridge locations.

She collects samples every two to three weeks. A challenge, she noted, is that once she picks a location, she has to determine how to get there.

Luckily, on the Hillsborough River, there are a lot of boat docks that get 鈥減retty close鈥� that they can collect samples from.

鈥淪he actually went by herself with (John) Ambrosio from the biology department (in the University鈥檚 marine biology department boat) and sampled three bridges on the beginning of Alafia, and then sampled at a site upstream,鈥� said Deister. 鈥淚t actually showed a nice trend. The concentrations of the metals did increase going downstream.鈥�

Before she graduates, Manous also wants to look at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and a bridge on Davis Islands and conduct more research on the Hillsborough, Deister said.

Manous is applying to doctoral programs. She wants to either work in environmental consulting with local governments to distinguish whether or not their infrastructure is in accordance with laws or become a science journal editor.

鈥�(Deister) opened my eyes to more that I could do with chemistry than just lab work,鈥� Manous said. 鈥淭alking to her about how there鈥檚 this whole world of marine and the Earth functioning, and all those things that I could even work on in Tampa, it was really cool,鈥� she said.