Research — Andrew Gio Kang

Detecting Invisible Groundwater Discharge Patterns Across Tumon Bay, Guam

Investigating vital habitats sustained by groundwater discharge

University of Guam × NOAASep 2023 – presentages 13–14

Andrew snorkeling in Tumon Bay, working with field equipment under a floating rig above the reef — fieldwork in tumon bay

Mounded coral reef in Tumon Bay under hazy blue water — the reef i worked around

Choppy, stormy water across Tumon Bay under heavy rain clouds — tempest waters, still fieldwork

Andrew standing waist-deep in Tumon Bay at sunrise, looking out under pink clouds — sunrise, detecting the invisible

Close-up of a healthy finger-like Porites coral with small striped damselfish — a healthy porites reef

Half-underwater shot of Andrew in snorkel gear standing over the reef in Tumon Bay — and finally, me in the water

Tumon Bay has a secret: fresh groundwater quietly seeping up through the reef, invisible unless you know how to look. So I went looking — first hunting down the seeps across the marine preserve, then swimming photo transects to meet the corals living around them. Turns out the reef was into it: the freshwater helped, and pH lined up with which coral species showed up (R said so, significantly). And for the fair, I built the whole preserve in Blender and 3D-printed it.

part 1: find the freshwater seeps in the preserve
part 2: photo transects + visual surveys around them
stats: pH vs. coral species, modeled in R
a 3D-printed model of the preserve, lit and built in Blender

and then it went places:

Island-wideScience FairWinner

Regeneron ISEFNOAA AwardRepresenting Guam

Taiwan Int'l
Science Fair2ndEarth & Environmental

U.S. Dept. of EducationNational STEM Champion

Huge thanks to Dr. Houk at the University of Guam Marine Lab, and to the NOAA affiliates who volunteered for the second half of the study — they kept it rigorous and safe.

The Mystery Nudibranch

Identifying a nudibranch from the Marine Lab's tanks with molecular techniques

UOG Marine LaboratoryOct – Dec 2023age 15

live footage of the suspect

specimen #001

found: in the Marine Lab's tanks, uninvited
suspected: ~~a brand-new species?!~~
confirmed: Phestilla lugubris

IDENTIFIED

A nudibranch nobody could name showed up in the Marine Lab's tanks, and 15-year-old me was very sure it could be a brand-new species. So I went full forensics: flash-froze them in liquid nitrogen, ran them through solution after solution (literally), pipetted a truly unreasonable amount, and pulled out their DNA. We sent it offshore for sequencing, and the verdict came back… Phestilla lugubris. Not new to science — but officially ID'd.

Then the tanks lost control, the nudibranchs didn't make it, and the project went under with them. RIP, little guys.

skills unlocked: