UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #1357

Research Mentor Information
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Primary Research Mentor Name: Ming Ye
Research Mentor Preferred Pronouns: He/Him/His
When potential research assistants are reaching out via email, what is your preferred honorific?: Dr.
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): mye@fsu.edu
Position Title: Faculty
FSU College (if applicable): Arts and Sciences
FSU Department or Non-FSU Organization Affiliation: Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science
Headshot (optional): https://cre.fsu.edu/system/files/webform/urop_project_proposal_portal/21381/Pic_Ye.JPG

Additional Research Mentor(s)
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Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from above): John Stainbrook
Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Pronouns: He/Him/His
Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Honorific?: Mr.
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): johnstainbrook1@gmail.com
Name of Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) (if applicable): {Empty}
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Pronouns: {Empty}
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Honorific?: {Empty}
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): {Empty}

Overall Project Details
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Title of the Project: Combating Lake Eutrophication by Using Moringa F-Sand to Remove Nutrient and Bacteria
Project Keywords: Lake Munson, Lake Jackson, Moringa F-sand, Adsorption, Sandbags
Are you currently looking for research assistants?: Yes
Number of Research Assistants Needed : 3
Relevant Research Assistant Major(s):
Environmental science, environmental engineering, biology, chemistry, or chemical engineering

Project Location:: On FSU Main Campus
If the project location is off campus, does the research assistant(s) need to provide their own transportation?: {Empty}
Please select the choice that most accurately describes your expectations for the research assistant(s):: In-person
Approximately how many hours a week would the research assistant(s) need to work?: 10 hours a week
Roughly what time frame do you expect research assistant(s) to work?: Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Overall Research Project Description:
We have a project funded by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to work on Lake Munson located in south Tallahassee. The lake has been experiencing a number of environmental problems such as harmful algal blooms (HABs), and the recent one occurred in 2022. There has been several lake management efforts, and the latest one was lake drawdown, which emptied the lake from November 1, 2022 to May 17, 2024. The drawdown may help mitigate algal blooms by disrupting the life cycle of the organisms. During the drawdown, nutrient-rich sediments can be de-watered, compacted, and oxidized to from a hardened crust over the lake bottom. Our project is to explore another way to combat lake eutrophication. We will use so called moringa f-sand to remove nitrate, phosphate, and bacteria. The project will involve making moringa f-sand in lab, deploying the moringa f-sand in the lake and lake’s inflow and outflow, and monitoring reduction efficiency of nitrate, phosphate, and bacteria.

Research Tasks:
The UROP students will be involved in three research tasks as follows: (1) develop moringa f-sand in lab, (2) deploy moringa f-sand in Lake Munson, and (3) collect water samples and measure the concentrations of nitrate, phosphate, and bacteria (mainly E. Coli) in lab. The nitrate and phosphate concentrations will be measured by using an ion chromatography, and the bacteria concentrations will be measured by using a microscope or a fluorometer. The three tasks are independent to each other, and a student can be involved in either one or multiple tasks. 

Skills that research assistant(s) may need::
Laboratory skills of biology and inorganic chemistry are needed for Tasks 1 and 3 for making Moringa f-sand and for lab measurements, respectively. Field skills will be needed for Task 2, and this task can be labor intensive to deploy sandbags in the lake. 

Mentoring Philosophy:
The role of the mentor is to teach UROP students fishing rather than give them fish. The project will help student first have a sense of scientific research and then practice how to do research with assistance from the mentor and the mentor’s graduate students. The ultimate goal is to train students how to do critical thinking and independent research. The students will also work as a team with graduate students and post-docs to develop team-work skills.

Please provide a link to your publications, a video clip, or a website for your research project (if applicable):: https://youtu.be/99HNgoSE9BQ?si=hRvGmW0pSuZXoV8l
Please add any additional information here (if applicable)::
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Are you interested in participating in the UROP Research Mentor Roundtable?: Yes
Roundtable times and Zoom links:
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Roundtable Info:
- Day: Wednesday, September 3
  Start Time: 2:00
  End Time: 2:30
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/94146212371

UROP Program Elements
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Mentor Handbook, FAQs, and Communication: Yes
UROP Performance Evaluation: Yes
Materials Grant: Yes
UROP Poster Presentation: Yes

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Year: 2025
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