https://www.scipedia.com/profile/MarcellinoMelika Wed, 13 Sep 2023 16:46:43 +0200 https://www.scipedia.com/profile/MarcellinoMelika Student researcher 

Marcellino Melika has participated in many research

competitions, achieving third in the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium in the semi-

finals for environmental science, with his research focusing on the interdisciplinary field of

sounds and plants, especially their recognition of sounds.

Currently, the research on plant’s capability to recognize and respond to sounds is very limited.

Many previous studies have found correlations between sounds and growth, even signifying

recognition and response to sounds, but no studies have pinpointed how this phenomenon

occurs. Identifying the specific cellular responses and areas responsible for has proven difficult,

but the rules or limits of this capability haven’t been explored.

His work is focused on clarifying the functions and capabilities of plant’s recognition of naturally

occurring sounds like water, determining the extent to which plants can “hear” and recognize.

His past work delved into the regulation of plant growth, which is often limited even under ideal

water conditions to protect against future stresses, and the “belief” that there is an abundance of

water available expressed through frequent playing of the sound of water near the plants, which

would hint at less possibility of future stresses like drought, and even the perceived continuance

of currently ongoing drought. His further work connects the areas of auditory conditioned

learning and plant’s recognition of sounds to determine if a plant’s capability to recognize a

certain sound is inherit (some sort of internal code that helps them correlate certain vibrations to

water and its sound indicating its presence, in order to emulate the advantages of hearing) or

gained through exposure (a plant correlates that the vibrations they consistently feel while

receiving water, whether through rain or otherwise, is the sound of water) – essentially

determining if the recognitory capability is rooted in nature or nurture.

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