TA News

In February, Thetford Academy’s Elle Dixon (’20) was among the more than 10,000 international scientists who flocked to Washington D.C. for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2019 Annual meeting. Elle was there to present her own scientific research at a special American Junior Academy of Science (AJAS) poster session.

Elle’s poster session was the culmination of weeks spent on data gathering and analysis that began last summer when Elle joined the New Hampshire Academy of Sciences’ (NHAS)  Applied Scientific Research Program for middle and high school students. Elle was interested in whether herbal remedies are effective for treating parasitic worm infections, a common problem all over the world.

With guidance from NHAS mentors, she developed an experiment to compare the response of the nematode C.elegans to lady slipper root and black walnut hull (juglone) extract with their response to a common chemical anti-parasitic drug called ivermectin. Her results indicated that black walnut hull may be an effective herbal alternative.

After completing her research, Elle had the opportunity to present her results to a panel of scientists at Hypertherm. They offered valuable feedback, allowing her to develop an abstract and paper for peer review by a panel of STEM Professionals, who accepted her research for the AJAS poster presentation in D.C.!

What’s next for Elle?  She’s already looking forward to delving into a new research question this summer! Those interested in joining her can get more information about this and other NHAS STEM Opportunities here.