Rebecca Wright

Hi, my name is Rebecca Wright O’Hearn and I am the current President of Wildlife and Fisheries Graduate Student Organization. I am fascinated with anything and everything involving water and microbes. I’m currently working on my master’s degree under Dr. John Jones and serving as a teaching assistant for limnology (the study of inland waters). My project sites are recreational coves of Lake of the Ozarks, one of the largest recreational reservoirs in Missouri. The main objective of my project is to determine the impact that on-shore activities have on the water quality in these coves. Limnological parameters that I am monitoring are nutrient levels, chlorophyll concentrations, and suspended solids. I am also monitoring fecal coliforms and E. coli by using classic membrane filtering and plating methods. Contrary to popular belief, the E. coli I monitor is not exclusively the strain that provokes illness. Although E. coli is found in animal feces, it is also commonly found in environmental soil samples. This is why I am also monitoring for Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, a bacterium that is mostly exclusive to human gut flora. For monitoring this bacterium, I will be using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods. By coupling Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron with classic E. coli and fecal coliform monitoring, I will aid in the progression towards a more realistic indicator of human fecal pollution.