Claudia Hewston didn’t think she’d love learning about infectious diseases until she attended BioScience Montana.

Infectious disease became a very “cool” topic after the 17-year-old conducted a variety of experiments working directly with Montana State University faculty, students and mentors.

The annual program is geared toward 4-H members in eighth through 11th grades and is made possible through a Science Education Partnership Award. This was the first full year of the program.

Teams of 4-Hers from around the state began their scientific discoveries in the areas of infectious diseases, neuroscience and metabolomics last August and wrapped up final projects in May.

Hewston was one of three participants on the combined Flathead and Lake counties team, which included Madisen Wheeler, Natalee Wheeler and Ian Caltabiano led by 4-H leader Tracey Wheeler.

Hewston had an interest in environmental science prior to the program, but after attending BioScience Montana, she is now quite excited about exploring careers in either neuroscience or infectious diseases.

Their takeoff into the scientific method included a five-day campus stay at MSU where participants learned from professors of cell biology and neuroscience, immunology and infectious diseases, and chemistry and biochemistry.

It was an added bonus that Hewston was able to learn what college life was like.

“We went around to the different labs on campus, met professors and talked to them. It was like a college tour,” she said.

The learning didn’t stop when participants went home. Through videoconferences and online discussions, university students assisted participants in their long-distance learning.

“You were assigned one of the college students to be a reference point; throughout the course of experiments, you could contact them for help with any questions,” Hewston said.

In January, participants returned to the university for a few days to present experiments and projects they had worked on.

Investigations into neuroscience included different sensory tests. One of the tests involved creating a visual called a homunculus. The cortical homunculus serves as a visual of body parts exaggerated in size in proportion to the amount of dedicated brain connections — or sensitivity. BioScience students focused on the face and hands.

“They were pretty interesting. There’s not much sensitivity on the forehead,” Hewston said.

The unit on infectious diseases — from the millions of good bacteria living in and on the body, to the bad bacteria that invade the body and cause illness — proved to be the most interesting for both Hewston and 12-year-old Caltabiano.

“I enjoyed the most the infectious disease unit and working hands-on with the experiments,” Caltabiano said in an email to the Daily Inter Lake. “We looked at some bacteria samples from throat swabs and examined these samples in the lab. It is one thing to say I have a sore throat, but now having seen what lurks there brought the whole experience closer to home. Because of this, this was also the hardest unit for me.”

Hewston said they learned about bacteria such as E. coli and staphylococcus before designing experiments.

Hewston’s group, which included the Wheelers, studied bacteria growth in men’s and women’s restroom stalls high at her high school. After stalls were swabbed, members waited and watched as bacteria bloomed on Petri dishes.

“Our hypothesis was that the boy’s bathroom doors had the highest concentration of E. coli,” Hewston said. “It turned out to be true.”

Hewston said another team did an interesting test on bacteria growth on water bottles that were shared with multiple people. After the Petri dish visual, Hewston said she won’t be sharing water bottles.

The study of metabolomics was also interesting to participants, and they studied the impact of nutrition on the body and were introduced into the chemistry of different nutrients.

For a metabolic experiment, blood samples were taken to observe how much omega 6 and omega 3, which aid in brain function, were in participants’ diet. Samples changed depending on diets or supplements. Hewston said it made her think twice about choosing sugary foods that reduce memory and learning.

“I really thought about food in a new light,” Caltabiano added. “I even appreciated vegetables a bit more.”

This year’s BioScience Montana Flathead team includes Colter Norick, Colin Norick, Ellowyn Broughton and Monique Schoech under leader Tara Norick.

The Lake County team includes Hannah Vaughan, Brooklinn Hunt and Megan Weider under leader Amy Vaughan.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at [email protected].