The program, which is funded by the National Institution of Health, takes the students on a journey of partaking in scientific research, analyzing their work, and finally presenting their findings to a panel at the National Institution of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases, or NIDDKD, Symposium in Maryland.
This year, out of the 100, five are from the CNMI.
Through the collaboration of the Public School System, NIDDKD, Northern Marianas College and the University of Hawaii at Manoa, these five students have been given the opportunity to experience scientific research and see if they actually want to get into the fields of science.
Students had to submit an online application, two teacher recommendation letters, transcripts, and an essay depicting why they should be accepted.
Once in the program, the student chooses a project to take on and begins their research. The five girls chosen from the CNMI share their work.
Diabetics’ foot infections
Claudette San Nicolas, upcoming senior of Tinian High School describes her experience.
“We were told that we had four weeks to prepare for a project. I decided to do mine on ‘Methods in the CNMI to treat diabetics’ foot infections: local versus medical.’ ”
She worked under the nursing department at NMC. To gather data for her project, San Nicolas spoke with a local witch doctor about their methods used to treat infections. She also went to hospital and acquired samples of antibiotics. “I want to find out each ingredient used in the antibiotics and compare and contrast them with those of the local medicines,” she explains.
She surveyed people on their experiences with both local and medical treatments.
Since she is not allowed to do an experiment on a living foot, San Nicolas’s research mostly consists of observations and data collecting.
Shrimp disease
Also an upcoming senior at Tinian High School, Richeena Farrell has chosen to do her project on “Shrimp Disease in the CNMI.”
“I’m helping my mentor, who is in charge of agriculture at NMC-CREES,” says Farrell, referring to the college’s Cooperative Research Extension and Education Service.
“Shrimp disease is a serious issue in some places of the world; some countries depend on the shrimp industry. That’s what we’re trying to do here; we don’t want to be so dependent on tourism. We want to be able to depend on our local farmers more,” she says.
To conduct her experiment, Farrell went to major stores around the island and surveyed the brands of shrimp sold and found out where the products came from.
“With the information I attained, I went online and researched shrimp disease from those countries and made graphs on the data,” she says.
She also took frozen shrimp samples and sent them off to the University of Arizona for PCR testing — a test which will show any presence of virus genes. It was this university that took care of Guam when it had a shrimp disease infestation around 2002. She is hoping to receive results by next week.
Mentor perspective
Farrell’s mentor, Mike Ogo, gives his opinion on the Step-Up program: “It’s a good introduction program to sciences. Right now, the CNMI is bringing lots of employees from outside for the fields of science. The program’s intention is to expose local students to these fields. Basically this summer the students are working on research, writing papers, and making PowerPoint presentations. They will learn about the whole process of scientific research.”
“I’m hoping this experience will broaden their horizons. Since the program has limited slots, these students went through a rigorous selection process.” Everything from their GPA to extracurricular programs were taken into account. “So these kids are the cream of the crop. They really show potential of going further,” he says.
Sea cucumbers
Mariah Barcinas, soon to be a senior at Rota High School, is conducting an experiment on the “Populations and Species Diversity of Sea Cucumbers in Marine Protected Areas.”
“We don’t exactly know the importance of sea cucumbers so we’re trying to take a look at what types we have here and see if their numbers have increased or decreased,” says Barcinas.
She will use her studies and her mentor’s older studies of the sea cucumber population to come to a conclusion.
“We want to find out if we need to start taking actions to protect the species,” she continues.
Diabetes after WWII
Genevieve Gottwald, upcoming senior at Marianas High School, will present on “Diabetes Mellitus in the CNMI and how it has aged post WWII.”
She has collected data from the Department of Public Health regarding patients with diabetes here from 1990-2010. She analyzed trends and noticed that 1992 had the largest amount of people with diabetes. She also found that the numbers consist of more men than women.
She explains that she was unable to obtain records of diabetic patients prior to 1990 because “the hospital’s computer crashed around that time and then they moved,” so the information was lost.
“Nurses told me about how Chamorros used to be a lot bigger and more muscular [prior WWII], then after the war, the water was poisoned and everything burned down. The local people relied on the soldiers for food. They were mostly fed things like MRE’s and Spam [things that could last long]. After that, the bad eating habits began,” she comments.
They explained how there was not a lot of diabetes prior to the war, but afterward the numbers grew tremendously fast, says Gottwald.
Her research has consisted of analyzing data and using reference books about the war to retrieve information on diabetes from 1940 to 1990.
Root-knot nematodes
Chasy Amada, who graduated from Kagman High School this past June, has been conducting scientific research on “The comparison between sunhemp, mung beans, and neem mulches as a control for root-knot nematodes on tomatoes.”
“Root-knot nematodes have been very destructive pests in agriculture,” she elucidates. “We’re trying to find a way to control their population.”
She discusses how sunhemp and neem mulches have natural chemical toxins that resist nematodes. “We’re trying to test which will be the better choice,” she says.
For the project, she and her peers are using four soil treatments: sunhemp, mung beans, neem mulches, and a control group.
Most of her research takes place at NMC-CREES’s entomology nursery in As Perdido.
“We will get our results this Friday, however I don’t think they will be that good,” she describes the short time span in which the project has taken place.
Applying their research
After all their hard work gathering information, conducting surveys, and doing experiments, the girls must now present their findings at the symposium in the U.S.
They will be leaving Saipan on August 9 to arrive in Bethesda, Maryland where they will be staying at the Double Tree Hotel. The first night will consist of a banquet and introduction to the program.
On the second day, the participants are scheduled to do their presentations on what their findings are in front of scientists and their peers. Here they will receive critiques and answer questions.
On the third day, graduated seniors will present their project posters that they are required to make.
The remaining days are reserved for touring.
The girls will be in Maryland for a total of eight days.
