Pupils in coastal erosion project

SCHOOL pupils from Tayside and Fife are part of an Abertay University project aiming to discover more about the role bacteria can play in battling coastal erosion.

A project spokesman said: “Carried out in connection with wider coastal erosion exploration from the University of St Andrews, the project aims to analyse the properties of a certain type of bacteria known as pseudomonad, which has unusually been found in sediment at the site.

“One strand of the research is to analyse how these bacteria and other microbes such as algae contribute to cementing together sandbanks in the tidal zone, using a high pressure water jet to gauge its level of resistance to wave power.”

Brechin High School student Sofiya Zyza, 18, and Dana Cheung, 16, of Glenwood High in Glenrothes, are analysing samples from mud flats at Tentsmuir beach between St Andrews and Dundee as part of microbiology analysis work.

Dr Andrew Spiers is supervising the project i n Abertay’s Microbial Ecology Laboratory.

He said: “One of the things we are doing is looking at how well connected the sand is.

“The top layer has so many microbes on it, including algae, that all of the proteins and polymers act as a sort of glue that holds it all together.

“We’ve been isolating bacteria and are looking to determine if there are differences between those found in the grass bank and those found further down.”