Студентка из Гернси изучила роль бурых водорослей в поглощении углерода

Kelps are renowned for their ability to sequestrate atmospheric carbon, akin to rainforests on land. Pip Gallagher’s dissertation project investigated how the decay of golden kelp is affected by varying environmental factors, how small epiphytes living on its tissues affect its degradation rate, and the importance of protecting kelp forests. Having been fascinated by the sea from a young age, Miss Gallagher studied marine biology at the University of Plymouth and will be going on to study for a Masters degree next year. ‘I’ve always been interested in biology. ‘I think from a young age I’ve always wanted to understand how things work, but particularly life, how does it work, the evolution and origin of life. I’ve always been fascinated by the sea, I think probably most people are here, I’ve grown up surfing, rock pooling, Guernsey was my back garden,’ she said. As part of her undergraduate dissertation she completed a lab experiment on how the decay of golden kelp is affected by varying environmental factors, and how small epiphytes living on its tissues affect its degradation rate. ‘I took a model species, it’s called golden kelp, and I wanted to look into the breakdown of kelps. Once the kelp’s broken away from the forest, what happens to it,’ she said. ‘Kelp forests sequestrate much more carbon per unit area than a rainforest. So they’re really important. ‘I was just weighing kelp every day for three days, for two months, every three days. ‘It was gruelling in October and November, walking down half an hour to the Marine Station. ‘But I did find some really interesting results, which is lucky because for an undergrad, sometimes you might not find any significant results.’ She has shared her findings this summer at an event with La Societe Guernesiaise and the Nature Commission. Last year she received a science and nature bursary from La Societe. ‘That money went towards funding the final year of my degree, I think I mainly got given the bursary because what I was doing for my dissertation was relevant to Guernsey because it’s about kelp,’ Miss Gallagher said. ‘Hopefully my talk will just encourage a bit more awareness and understanding of the UK and Guernsey’s kelp forests, how important they are, what we can do and how my dissertation can maybe help.’