Northwest Academy Students Meet Jane Goodall

On Oct. 15, 11 Northwest Academy students met with and presented environmental science research to Dr. Jane Goodall at the Oregon Youth Environmental Science Conference.

Dr. Goodall is a world-renowned primatologist, famous for her research on chimpanzees. She has also promoted youth-led activism on environmental issues.

The conference was a state-wide event where schools ranging from elementary to high school presented research on environmental science related topics from endangered species conservation to animal behavior and steam water health.

The research that the students present involved sampling bodies of water across Oregon and Washington, then analyzing the sample for microorganisms called diatoms.

These diatoms were then used as indicators of the water’s health.

Molly Sultany, high school science teacher at Northwest Academy, received a grant from the Diack Ecology Education Program, a foundation that provides resources for schools to engage students in field-based science inquiry.

While Diack provided the invitation to the conference, the scanning electron microscope used to image the diatoms was provided by Project Nano, a program that provides high school teachers with access to equipment to teach about nanoscale sciences.

Much of the research presented was conducted last year.

“The diatom research that we did was part of our chemistry class,” Kylie Swinmurn, a junior, said. “The opportunity came up that we could go to the conference. Molly just asked who would be interested in going.”

Students had various reasons for attending.

“I wanted to go because getting an experience with a science fair community was really cool,” Biesemeyer said. “To meet Jane Goodall and to have her look at my work I thought would be very cool, which it was.”

This year,several seniors compiled the information from the various groups into one set of data, which was presented at the conference. In addition, all the students made various books and activities for their booth.

“We had a big presentation board,” Swinmurn said. “We had a diatom matching game that was set up. We had books that we were using and people would come up and ask us about our project.”

While most of the students did not have the opportunity to speak to Goodall personally, she did see their work.

“We took a picture with her and she was very nice,” Biesemeyer said. “She said our work was extraordinary or magnificent.”

While the teacher grant that Sultany received lasted only one year, the school may attend this conference again, as they can still apply for other grants from Diack.