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Day 8: The Finale

Today we presented our final presentation to Mr. Self, and it went really well. It felt really good and went way better than I thought it would (not that I had low expectations or anything). It was actually kind of casual, especially since sometimes he would pose a question and then we would have a small discussion before getting back to the presentation. This made the whole experience less nerve-wracking. I’m really proud of what my group and I accomplished these past 8 days, and the presentation to Mr. Self was proof of all our hard work. It’s kind of sad to think that this is the last day, but it really was a great experience and I had fun. Also, spending our last day together in person was a nice way to finish things.

Day 7: Wrapping up Presentation

Today we met as a group at school and did a run through of our presentation. With Painting with Bob Ross playing in the background we were able to put the finishing touches on our PowerPoint and tie up any loose ends. I think that our presentation is really good, and I was surprised with the wealth of information. I think that we are ready to present to Mr. Self tomorrow, and I’m excited to meet him in person and see a bit of the office space.

Day 6: Working on the Presentation

Today we continued work on our PowerPoint which is coming along nicely. We also discussed meeting up in person tomorrow to do a practice run. I can’t believe our WEP is coming to an end. These past few days has really taught me the importance of collaboration and communication and it also gave me an opportunity to practice my research skills. The final presentation on Thursday will give me public speaking practice as well. All in all, I’m really grateful for the way things have worked out.

Day 5: PowerPoint

Research has finally come to an end! Today, after a quick check in meeting with Mr. Self, we began working on our presentation. After meeting with Mr. Self, we met with each other to discuss an outline. I’m glad to be done with research because even though I was finding some interesting stuff, all that research was kind of exhausting. In terms of making the presentation, I think the hardest thing for me will be sifting through all of my research and determining what is necessary and what isn’t. Also, we made plans to meet up in person to practice our presentation and I’m excited about that because this will be the first time we will be together as a group since our WEP began. Things have been going smoothly these past five days, and I’m excited (and nervous) to present all our hard work to Mr. Self.

Day 4: Evidence for Untreated Nets for Malaria Control

As our research begins to wrap up, I focused today on untreated malaria nets and how effective they are compared to treated malaria nets. When I say treated and untreated, I mean whether or not the nets are treated with pesticides. Obviously, treated nets use pesticides while untreated nets do not. I found a lot of support for the use of untreated nets. Because malaria vectors are becoming increasingly more resistant to pesticides, pesticide treated nets are becoming less and less effective. In a study conducted in 48 villages in The Gambia, untreated nets prevented approximately 60% of malaria infections and 35% of clinical disease. In another study done in Papua New Guinea, untreated nets significantly reduced malaria vector survival and infection. In some trial sites, evidence suggested that high coverage with untreated nets delivered “significant gains ahead of the widespread use of [insecticide treated nets]”. After 4 long days of research, it’s finally time to start putting our presentation together!

Vector Textiles Day 3: Water Contamination

Today involved more research (are you surprised?). The day started off with a quick check-in with Mr. Self where we discussed what we’ve done so far and he gave us some insight in what we could look for. After that, it was back to the research grind. I focused on water contamination caused by pesticides and how that affects the environment. The most interesting thing that I learned was that even though, when used in proper amounts, permethrin is not likely to contaminate water, because of poor regulations and lack of knowledge of pesticide hazards, increased reliance on pesticides have led to the contamination of African freshwater sources. All these pesticides in the water can create “dead zones”: when waters are essentially devoid of life due to lack of oxygen caused by algal blooms. I also read a study about the effects of permethrin on zebrafish. In short, permethrin and water — not a great combination.

Vector Textiles Day 2

The research continues. Today we split into three groups and deep-dived into specific topics surrounding our research question. My sister and I focused on the effects of permethrin on the overall ecosystem of sub-Saharan Africa while other members of my group focused on how the chemical affects humans, and how it affects different regions in sub-Saharan Africa. The most interesting thing I found today was the effects permethrin has on aquatic organisms, specifically tadpoles. I already knew from previous research that permethrin was dangerously toxic to fish, so it was interesting to learn about its affect on another aquatic animal. A study that focused on three common insecticide formulas found that 2 out of the 3 formulas reduced the survival of tadpoles while the third formula appeared to have no affect. Despite the fact that the third formula did not negatively impact the tadpoles, it was the least used formula. In fact, the most used formula was the one that hurt the tadpoles the most.

Vector Textiles Day 1

Example of Vector Textiles’ chemical-free bite resistant athletic clothing

Today was the first day of my WEP with Vector Textiles. Vector Textiles creates chemical-free, insect resistant mosquito netting and clothing and our job is to research the negative effects of permethrin, a chemical in mosquito repellent, on the environment. The day started with a meeting with Mark Self, the CEO of Vector Textiles. Mr. Self discussed with us what he expects from us, and what he wants us to accomplish during this time. My group members and I had our own meeting where we created a timeline and plan for the rest of the week and next and the rest of the day was spent on individual research. While there were some things that I anticipated I would see going into my research, I was actually a little surprised about some of the things that I found, like that permethrin is dangerously toxic to cats.