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Mobilized Mercury

August 27, 2015

WHOI Postdoctoral Scholar Priya Ganguli worked with Woods Hole Partnership Education Program (PEP) student Kelly Luis this summer to test groundwater from nearby Mosquito Creek for methylmercury. Septic systems in the area mobilize mercury in the local aquifer, creating a source for methylmercury in marine food webs. Preliminary results suggest this process may be responsible for a nearly two-fold increase in mercury loading to the Oyster Pond system near WHOI’s Quissett Campus. PEP students like Kelly participate in summer research hosted by six Woods Hole institutions to provide hands-on science training for underrepresented groups of college juniors and seniors.(Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)