Math professor Dr. Thomas Mosca of Rappahannock Community College recently presented a paper to the Virginia Academy of Science that he and his co-author prepared with the help of RCC student Yohana Flores.

According to a press release, the paper, "Evidence of a long-term warming trend in Chesapeake Bay, Virginia," co-authored by William C. Coles of the Division of Fish and Wildlife in the U.S. Virgin Islands, uses data collected in the York River at Gloucester Point and at sites in the James and Rappahannock rivers to demonstrate that there has been an increase of 1.5ºC in the entire Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay over the past half-century.

Flores spent many hours gathering and collating statistics from the websites of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Old Dominion University, and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, that would allow Mosca and Coles to draw their conclusions, said the release.

Flores had the task, under Mosca’s supervision, of graphing mid-layer water temperatures over the period in question to document changes. Her "Chesapeake Bay Project," undertaken as part of her participation in the RCC Honors Program directed by history professor John Paden, was a key factor in her qualification for an Honors Diploma at her graduation this May, said the release.

She has since been accepted with junior-class status at both the University of Virginia and the University of Richmond, and has decided to attend the latter, majoring in international studies with a concentration in Latin America, and minoring in philosophy. Upon graduation, she plans to attend law school.

Flores is a 2006 graduate of Hermitage High School in Richmond, but had to take a year’s break because of a health issue before going to college.

To view this article in its entirety, subscribe here. Already an online subscriber? Login Here