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Besides being student council president, David is a member of his school's academic and track teams. He also competes in gymnastics and plays the piano. He would like to become a veterinarian someday, "because I love science, math, nature and animals."
His brother, Matthew, is David's science hero. "He is passionate about science, and he is kind, helpful and fun to be with," says David.
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Living on the bayou his entire life, David has always noticed one consistency—pollution. Although industry and farms outside of town are the usual suspects, David wondered whether there were other causes for the contaminated waterway. After consulting with agricultural specialists, who confirmed that rain runoff may also contaminate the bayou, David designed his project to determine whether urban runoff is also a contaminant.
After choosing four locations along the waterway, David used a visual colorimetric method to measure the concentration of dissolved oxygen, phosphate, nitrate, nitrite and detergent. He collected and analyzed samples over four months and found that phosphate and nitrate levels increased following rainfall. In addition, an independent lab found significant levels of total coliforms, fecal coliforms and E. coli contaminants at the four test locations. David concluded that, in addition to industry and farms, urban runoff is significantly responsible for the pollution of waterways.
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