Students sample near Mississippi River Delta

By on December 12, 2013
Princeton sophomore David Hoyos collects environmental samples during an eight-week-long research project to study pollution of the Mississippi River Delta (Credit: Devika Balachandran)

Princeton sophomore David Hoyos collects environmental samples during an eight-week-long research project to study pollution of the Mississippi River Delta (Credit: Devika Balachandran)


Students at Princeton University are analyzing water quality data collected near the Mississippi River Delta, according to a release. They hope to find how nitrogen runoff from farming in the area influences streams and groundwater.

The two students – Devika Balachandran and David Hoyos – went to the delta in June 2012 as part of an internship offered through the school’s certificate program in environmental studies. They collected samples from shallow top layers of water and sediment in the area to look into the nature of nitrogen dispersal.

The summer of 2012 served as a sampling period and the students are still working to analyze all the samples collected. The full impact of the data is yet to be determined, but the students say the field experience gave them practical knowledge that they couldn’t have gained in a classroom.

Image: Princeton sophomore David Hoyos collects environmental samples during an eight-week-long research project to study pollution of the Mississippi River Delta (Credit: Devika Balachandran)

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