This April, nine 8th grade students from Community Day Charter Public School (CDCPS) had the exciting opportunity to present their scientific research at the annual Dragonfly Mercury Project symposium at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

The Dragonfly Mercury Project (DMP) is a nationwide project supported by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in partnership with the National Parks Service, Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC), and Dartmouth University. It engages students in real world data collection and analysis to track and understand the relationship between mercury, dragonflies, and other wildlife and humans.

This year, five students from our Prospect campus, two from our Gateway campus, and two from our Webster campus volunteered to participate in the fall sampling trip. This project was led by Prospect Science teacher Mr. Jutras and Science Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Mr. Cummiskey.

One Saturday morning in September 2024, CDCPS students and staff collected more than 30 samples of dragonfly larvae. These samples were bagged, tagged, frozen and shipped to Dartmouth University, where they were tested for mercury contamination levels.

Since the fall, the students have worked collaboratively and independently to prepare a poster presentation for this year’s symposium. Students wrote descriptions of their introduction to the project and what motivated them to volunteer, narrative paragraphs about the sampling process, analyses of the data from this and previous sampling years, and a conclusion about their key takeaways from the experience. In the weeks leading up to the symposium, students gathered, gave feedback on each other’s work, and produced the final poster for display.

On Monday, April 14, 2025 the group travelled to the symposium hosted at UMass Lowell to present their project. The day began with presentations from members of the UMass Lowell science community, including two graduate students who shared their research and Sarah Nelson, the AMC head of the Dragonfly Mercury Project. Afterwards, students from CDCPS and the other participating schools (with CDCPS proudly representing the only middle school currently contributing to the DMP sampling efforts) shared their presentations and public service announcements.

More than 100 attendees circulated around the room as students presented their posters. Our CDCPS students presented in two groups, sharing their experiences from the sampling trip, as well as the personal and school impact of this program.

Following the symposium, students toured the university’s four science labs: chemistry, hydrology, marine biology, and urban botany. The tours offered hands-on experiences, such as viewing their own field samples under microscopes.

Overall, our CDCPS students did a fantastic job representing their school and community while gaining valuable exposure to scientific research, higher education, and environmental responsibility.