In San Vito, at the Las Cruces
Biological Station, we spent three weeks conducting research for our final
projects. Every semester since my freshman year of college I have had at least
one class that involved a laboratory section. I feel that have been doing
research for a long time. But, with the research I was doing in San Vito, I felt
that, even though my research was still for me to learn, finally I was doing something
of importance that could end up benefitting other people and not just my own
academics.
For my independent project I worked
with Sarah Nuss and Keaton Stoner to try and identify a more accessible and
affordable insecticide that would help control the mosquito population and
lower the risk of mosquito borne diseases in rural areas of Costa Rica. We
looked at three tropical plants that are commonly found in living fences and,
therefore, most people will have easy access to. Our results, although not entirely
conclusive, showed promise of insecticidal potential for all of the plants we
chose. This was an amazing research opportunity and I am sad that I will not be
able to follow up my results with additional testing. I hope that, maybe one
day I can continue this research as it could benefit the health of the
population of Costa Rica.
At the end of the three weeks, the
four different research groups presented posters about their research and what
they did or did not find. The audience was larger than I had expected and people
were very interested in our projects and happy to interact. It was also really
good practice for me to give the presentation in both Spanish and English.
Overall, the final research projects were a great experience for me.
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