A total of 142 students showcased research across numerous disciplines May 10 during the fourth annual Flathead Valley Community College Scholars Conference on Student Research.  

The event included students from the college and Whitefish High School as well as award-winning projects from the University of Montana. 

During opening remarks, James McKusick, dean of the Davidson Honors College at the University of Montana, told students to ask the forbidden questions as scholars have done throughout history to further mankind’s understanding of the world, such as finding the origin of language or the weight of the universe.

“Keep on asking,” McKusick said. “Keep on exploring.”

Teagan Keith, a freshman at FVCC, received third place for her poster on the topic of “Love of Loa: A Glimpse at Haitian Vodou,” a final research project for an anthropology course looking at the religion’s practices, history and misconceptions. Integral to the religion are ‘loa,’ or spirits.

“The relationships built with spirits, or loa, takes centuries and multiple family members to build,” Keith said. “It’s all about respect all about balance. It’s all about the individuals and how they communicate. I found it to be one of the more community-oriented religions I’ve come across as far as building relationships with one another.”

Keith’s goal is to attain a Ph.D. in psychology.

“Eugenics: Improvement of the Human Genome” was the title of FVCC sophomore JonAlan Osborne’s presentation. Osborne is majoring in mathematics and plans to transfer to the University of Montana in the fall. 

Osborne had 20 minutes to present with the aid of a PowerPoint slideshow and 10 minutes of questions and answers. With four years of speech and debate experience at Flathead High School, Osborne said he felt at ease giving a presentation. 

Osborne first became interested in eugenics in high school when it was a debate topic.

“Basically, eugenics is the controlled breeding of the human race. It’s an interesting part of our history,” Osborne said.

Gaining momentum in Nazi Germany, eugenics also was influential in immigration reform in America during the 1920s, he said. 

“The Immigration Act of 1924 was influenced by eugenics,” Osborne said. “It’s kind of a dead movement [now]. The American Eugenics Society is still alive under another name, but it really has lost pretty much all influence.”  

George Neuhaus, a junior at the University of Montana, was busy throughout the conference answering questions about his award-winning poster, “Synthesizing Novel Halogen-bonding Organocatalysts.” The poster earned an award at the University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research.

A chemistry major, Neuhaus has a goal of enrolling in graduate school for pharmacology. He started research on his topic in January building catalysts designed by his mentor, Orion Berryman, University of Montana assistant professor in chemistry and biochemistry.

“We’re making molecules that could improve the production of major pharmaceuticals — antidepressants, kidney disease preventatives and even anti-cancer drugs,” Neuhaus said. “I’ve done five reactions, each twice. You do it on small scale and scale it up; each time you do it, it gets better. It’s almost like cooking: Each time you do it; your food tastes better.”

Lorentzen said award-winning students at the conference will have opportunities to present at regional and national conferences.

The community college’s Scholars Program hosts the conference. Students didn’t have to be enrolled in the program to participate and the conference was open to all students at the college and area high schools. Many entries were presented as final class projects.

The Scholars Program will celebrate its fifth year in the fall. 

The program has risen from 20 students and two courses in its first year to 60 students and six courses this year, according to director Ivan Lorentzen. Each course is team-taught by two teachers from different disciplines. 

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.