Step-Up student completes research on CNMI jellyfish

With the mark of a jellyfish sting near her left wrist to prove it, Maria Theresa Dizon recently completed what she calls “pioneering” research on jellyfish in the CNMI as part of the Pacific Step-Up program that helps high school students gain laboratory and research experience.

In a presentation to the Public School System’s Board of Education titled “Inhibiting Copula Sivickisi,” Dizon guided educators through her research that tested various chemicals to see their potential inhibiting effect on the stinging discharge of jellyfish nematocysts.

Dizon tied her project to the CNMI’s tourism industry, citing research by the Pacific Marine Research Institute’s Yoshi Yagi on the rising number in jellyfish stings reported to the hospital.

She caught her research species late at night in the waters of Ladder Beach, Smiling Cove Marina, and Garapan Dock, and had to “wait hours and hours just to get one [jellyfish].”

She said by attaching high-powered lights to Styrofoam to float on the water, she could see the many little animals in the water that’s unavailable to regular sight.

It was at Ladder Beach, she said, were she got stung.

Dizon said she tested jellyfish in separate agar plates of baking soda mixed with seawater, vinegar, distilled water, and seawater to compare the quantity of discharge.

She said the results were “completely against her hypothesis” as she believed that the liquid with higher saline content—baking soda mixed with seawater—would better inhibit discharge.

However, she found out that seawater was the only liquid that did not trigger the fire, while vinegar, which are placed in “huge jugs” for use in beaches in Australia, may actually not be the best remedy for jellyfish stings.

In an interview, she said her experience with lab work influenced her decision to major in forensic science, as she always wanted to major in pre-law but now has a way to combine her two interests.

“I always liked science, and wondered if there was something else I could do, and if there was a major that could mix [my interests] together,” she said.

She joked that procedural forensic crime dramas like “CSI” and “NCIS” also may have influenced her decision.

She called her Step-Up experience “great,” giving her a new perspective on science with a lot of hands on research.

“[The program] taught me a lot of patience and scientific methods and techniques. It’s an overall great experience if you want to go into science or just want to try something new,” she said.

She encourages other students to apply with the program.