WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National STEM Festival in Washington, D.C. highlights student’s work in science, technology, engineering and math. Andrew Kang, a junior at John F. Kennedy High School represented Guam at the event in D.C. over the weekend. His research focused on groundwater discharge in Tumon Bay and it’s impact on coral and marine life.
“That’s me on site when I first started doing the study,” said Kang pointing to a photo of himself while he was conducing research for his project. “Actually fun fact I wasn’t really too good in the water it was really was a learning process. This was a learning process.”
Kang’s project focuses on the impact of groundwater discharge in Tumon Bay.
“In this bay alone there’s over 200 coral species and I think in the entire Hawaiian archipelago like the entire state of Hawaii there’s 80 coral species and so there’s a huge biodiversity on the island and I wanted to see what makes it so biodiverse and see what helped it thrive so much,” said Kang. “Tumon Bay is the mecca of tourism here on island and on the island there’s a lot of [inaudible] factors in the bay and there’s a lot of processes and the one I focused on was groundwater discharge. So when rainfalls, freshwater accumulates in the what’s called the northern Guam aquifer and when the low tide comes in and the water recedes fresh water comes out into shore. So my project, I investigated the role of freshwater coming into the bay to see if there’s any effect on the coral or the marine life there.”
For nearly two years, Kang said he would wake up at 4am, head to the bay and conduct his research. After all that time, Kang’s research showed there’s a huge impact of freshwater on coral reefs.
“It was really cool,” said Kang. “Going out to see over time over a span of years some corals dying some corals won’t and in an area like Guam where we are prone to typhoons and major weather systems it’s really hard to see resilient reefs but in some of the places I snorkeled growing up you would see some reefs really vibrant and thrive over the years. “Using [inaudible] to see how much coral there is, I was able to see there was an impact of freshwater. Where freshwater came out, coral life was a lot more resilient and a lot more prevalent.”
Kang is the only student from Guam at the stem festival in Washington. The festival aims to highlight creative solutions to global challenges from students across the US, like electricity issues, to medical problems. There are even projects that include worms and dog feces. There’s no shortage of solutions. For Kang, he said it’s an honor to represent the island at the event.
“Growing up in Guam and snorkeling and knowing the importance of where I’m from and seeing all the natural life that’s there and the wealth of culture that is there, I’m really glad to represent Guam on such a high stage in DC and other competitions at an international level in STEM,” said Kang. “So I’m really glad.”
Kang told Guam News Now his research is not done yet. With this data he’s collected, he said he will next study how freshwater impacts inorganic matter in Tumon Bay.
