Evalina Lentini ‘24 To Be Published in "The Journal of Emerging Investigators”

An original environmental science/immunology study by senior Evalina Lentini, "The detriments of increased exposure to ultraviolet radiation for Lumbricus terrestris," has been accepted for publication by the Journal of Emerging Investigators (JEI), a highly-regarded, peer-reviewed academic journal for the nation's best scholarly high school research (Fall 2024). 

 

Evalina was mentored by Dr. Stephen Sullivan, Sacred Heart Academy’s Research Director. Actual experimentation was conducted in SHA's Science Research Lab, a 2014 bequest of Peg LaRosa D'Angelo '66. Specific financial support for Evalina's project was provided by a $300 materials grant from New York Institute for Technology's Mini-research Grant Program. Ms. Lentini's manuscript was reviewed by two graduate students and a postdoctoral researcher. Her abstract follows: 

In December of 2020, a study conducted by the Regeneration and Stem Cell Biology Lab found that exposure to UV-B radiation lowered the synthesis and viscosity of coelomic fluid, an essential component of the earthworm immune system (Chelladurai, et al., 2020). This result reveals that increased UV radiation on the surface of the earth has a negative impact on terrestrial ecosystems. Discoveries from earlier research inspired the objective of the current study: to compare the synthesis of coelomic fluid in earthworms exposed to UV radiation while in dirt with that of worms not exposed to UV radiation and how the length of exposure affects the earthworms when placed under UV-B radiation.  To assess the effects of production of coelomic fluid in the different testing groups of earthworms exposed to different concentrations of UV radiation, methodology utilizing an experimental design manipulating the variable of the concentration of the UV light and qualitative and quantitative production of coelomic fluid is analyzed.  It is concluded that UV-C radiation has detrimental effects on earthworms. This is surmised based on phenotypic alterations, behavioral observations, skin damages, and decreased production of coelomic fluid at high concentrations of UV-C radiation. 

 

The USC-bound senior’s publication in a peer-reviewed journal is Sacred Heart Academy's fourth such triumph in 2023-24, and twenty-first since 2020. Way to go Evalina! Kudos, girls! 

 

 

 

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