Who Am I?

I am a continuing sophomore at Raritan Valley Communit College, majoring in Biology, Health Science, Information Technology, and Education P-12. A 13 year resident of Basking Ridge in Somerset County, I graduated from Ridge High School in 2015. My research and leadership experiences span the gamut from community pharmacy and ecology to food science and land management. Recent research projects (detailed below) include measuring antioxidant activity utilizing the Briggs-Rauscher assay and determining stand-age using growth-ring counts of tree stumps to assess the accuracy of Forest Stewardship Plan data at Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area. I hope to one day work at the intersection of pharmaceuticals, ecology, and health science. Specifically I hope to research the impact of chemicals and pharmaceuticals on ecological systems and processes, such as water quality and soil composition. Aside from college, I am also a pharmacy technician at the Walgreens pharmacy in Stirling and a STEM Ambassador for the NJ Governor's STEM Scholars program.

Stand-Age Research Abstract:

Accurate assessments of stand-age are critical to a range of forestry and ecological studies, especially in the development of forest management practices at the local and regional scale. Given the historical declien in large-diameter and old-growth forest stands throughout New Jersey, any remaining older forest stands are critical in their ecosystem and habitat services. Our study aimed to compare the accuracy of Forest Stewardship Plan (FSP) estimates of stand-age at Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area (WMA) by counting the growth-rings of cut stumps at several stands managed with logging treatments. Secondly, the study tried to explain any differentials in stand-age by the crown classes of stumps used for sampling measurement by employing two different methodologies: (1) belt-transect of standard dimension of all trees and stumps greater than 10" in diameter, and (2) selective sampling of dominant large-diameter stumps greater than 15" throughout the stand. Lastly, data collected on basal diameter and DBH of stumps and uncut survivor trees was used to assess correlation relationships between age, basal diameter, and DBH. Measured stand-age based on growth-rings, regardless of the sampling methodology, was higher at two different stands than FSP estimates (12-31 years older at Stand 18, and 30 years older at Stand 2). Another two locations sampled (outside the WMA) had higher stand-age measurements than FSP estimates for nearby, adjacent stands regardless of sampling methodology (Stand G east of Edison Pond was 36-46 years older than Stand 4/8 respectively, while Stand C at Lake Gerard was 35-38 years older than Stand 33). The two sampling methodologies produced inconclusive differences in stand-age. The differences were statistically significant at Stand 18 (α = 0.10, p = 0.0237), but not significant at Stand 33 (α = 0.10, p = .4524). There was a strong correlation between basal diameter and DBH (R^2 = 0.925) regardless of sampling location, and the linear regression can be utilized to predict the DBH of stumps post-logging treatment. There was a weak correlation between basal diameter and stand-age based on growth-ring counts (R^2 = 0.367).

Antioxidant Activity Research Abstract:

Oxidative stress occurs when the production of free radicals exceeds the ability of the body to counteract their harmful effects via antioxidants, and is ascociated with a number of degenerative and nondegenerative conditions. Antioxidants have a number of industrial applications, such as preservatives, polymer additives, animal feed additives, and natruceutical supplements. Current assays however to measure antioxidant activity are expensive, highly technical, time consuming, and have poor standardardization and high variability. This study had three objectives: (1) validate whether a photoconductive cell that measures changes in light level can serve as a colorimetric device to replace the traditional Pt electrode in measuring inhibition time for a Briggs-Rauscher assay, (2) analyze what effects boiling dureation and freezing action can have on antioxidant capacity, and (3) determine whether the Briggs-Rauscher can be used to assess the biostability of antioxidant compounds in low acidity environments. Research results indicate that 20-minutes of boiling action at 100 degrees Celsius decreased antioxidant activity in organic strawberry ethyl acetate extracts by 66.6%, of which 40% reduction occurred in the first 5 minutes.