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Wednesday, May 5, 2021 - Pike County Journal Reporter - Page 3A
PCHS students complete STEM Internship at UGA Griffin
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Students from Pike County High School who completed the STEM Internship Program include (l-r) Victor Avila, Anna Edwards,
Caitlyn Foster, Henry Glover and Davis Huber. The students were able to take part in research projects with UGA professors in
various fields. The students recently gave a presentation about their work in the fall and spring semesters as interns at UGA.
BY ASHLEY BILES
UGA Griffin
Five Pike County High
School seniors recently
completed the UGA
Griffin Campus STEM
Internship Program on
Wednesday, April 14. The
students - Victor Avila,
Anna Edwards, Caitlyn
Foster, Henry Glover and
Davis Huber - spent the
last school year conduct
ing research on campus.
“Formally, these high
achieving students can
earn high school honors
credit for participating,”
said Be-Atrice Cunning
ham, UGA Griffin coordi
nator.
“They also gain a
wealth of information
and personal experience,
a rare opportunity for
most high school stu
dents.”
The UGA Griffin Cam
pus STEM Internship
Program is done in col
laboration with the Pike
County STEM Academy,
the first agriculture fo
cused STEM Program in
the state. It is designed
to prepare high school
seniors for post- second
ary education and future
careers in the STEM field.
Students participate in
unpaid internships on
campus, completing
120 research internship
hours each semester and
deliver an oral presenta
tion on their work in the
fall and in the spring.
During the semester’s
presentations, PCHS stu
dent Davis Huber, talked
about working with Dr.
Zhenbang Chen in the
department of Crop and
Soil Sciences. Huber’s
project dealt with Dollar
Spot, a fungus that af
fects turfgrass by secret
ing a toxin that kills the
grass and feeds on the
other blades. He noted
the spots of fungus are
brown and roughly the
size of a silver dollar,
hence the name.
For his project, Huber
aimed to come up with
a more efficient way to
screen different turfgrass
cultivars for Dollar Spot
resistance by doing so in
a lab rather than in the
field.
Currently, to screen
the susceptibility of a
cultivar, researchers
must plant large patches
of turfgrass and moni
tor the symptoms after
inoculating the test area.
Huber took two types of
turfgrass cultivars, one
that is known to be sus
ceptible to Dollar Spot
and one that is known
to be more resistant and
inoculated them both
with the fungus in the
lab to compare how they
reacted.
The thought was if
the susceptible cultivar
showed more symptoms
than the resistant culti
var, then the screening
method would have been
a success. However, Hu
ber found that no experi
ment was sufficient to
come to a direct conclu
sion. Even though he did
not get to his ultimate
goal, Huber noted he
learned a lot and would
recommend the program
to future STEM students.
“It really is important
to come in and take in
everything that you can
and run with it. You get
out as much as you put
in,” said Huber.
Henry Glover and Cait
lyn Foster worked with
Dr. Dario Chavez in the
department of Horticul
ture. Their project dealt
with peach juice data col
lection where they tested
the levels of sugar to find
what they deemed the
“super peach” - one that
encompassed the most
desired traits, such as
sweetness and juiciness.
To do this, the students
collected data by not
ing when the fruit was
harvested, the amount
of sugar present, what
variety the fruit was and
which row and tree it
came from in the field.
They would then blend
up the samples and use
a centrifuge to separate
the sugary liquid from
the solid.
“Our main goal was to
have everything ready
for the researchers to
come in and use,” said
Foster. “Throughout
our internship, we were
able to test over 200
samples.”
Another aspect of the
pair’s research was done
in the peach orchard.
There are more than 500
different peach trees on
the Dempsey Farm of
the UGA Griffin campus
and part of the students’
research dealt with the
experimental design of
the trees. They measured
the trunk diameter, the
tree height, and the
canopy spread to help
determine which offered
the best design.
The final team of
students presenting were
Victor Avila and Anna
Edwards who worked in
the Food Product Innova
tion and Commercializa
tion Center (FoodPIC)
with Dr. Kirk Kealey.
Instead of just one main
project for the semester,
the pair was able to work
on several small projects
such as shelf-life stud
ies, client feedback, food
tastings and touring a
local food production
facility.
Their biggest project
of the semester was for
a company named Rock
House Creamery, lo
cated in Morgan County,
Georgia. The company
is known for having a
gourmet chocolate milk
which was created, in
part, by former STEM
interns, and they wanted
to expand their busi
ness to have a quality
chocolate milk that ap
pealed to children. Avila
and Edwards took the
recipe for the company’s
gourmet chocolate milk
and performed many
test batches, changing
the percentage of each
of the ingredients in the
beverage before coming
up with a satisfactory
product.
“It showed us the
trial-and-error aspect of
FoodPIC,” said Edwards.
“We learned how to de
velop a formula and how
important of a role food
science plays in our daily
lives.”
At the close of the cer
emony, James Stanford,
assistant principal of
Pike County High School,
thanked the faculty and
UGA Griffin for hosting
the Pike STEM Intern
ships each year.
“This is a wonderful
program, and it provides
students the chance to
do research at a magni
tude that we cannot pro
vide on the high school
level,” said Stanford.
“The Pike STEM intern
ship is an exceptional
program, and we are
grateful that it exposes
students to these fields
that they may not know
about otherwise.”
Cunningham noted
a natural relationship
exists between UGA Grif
fin and the Pike County
STEM Academy.
“The proximity of our
campuses, the high aca
demic ability of students
and common focus on
agricultural application
of academic skills are
the foundation of what
has become a mutually
beneficial relationship,”
she stated.
“UGA Griffin has
access to the best and
brightest students in
Pike County schools,
creating a STEM pipeline
to UGA - this year 100
percent of the students
who applied to UGA were
accepted; and these
students receive the best
instruction and experien
tial learning experiences
by working with univer
sity faculty.”
For more information
on the STEM Internship
Program, contact Be-
Atrice Cunningham at
beatrice@uga.edu.
Fletcher among student presenters
at third Piedmont Symposium
More than 350 stu
dents participated in the
third annual Piedmont
University Symposium
on April 14, includ
ing one student from
Pike County. The high-
profile event embodies
the Piedmont Promise
“practical” pillar by pro
viding research opportu
nities for students.
Sloan Fletcher of Wil
liamson was one of the
students with a presen
tation at the event.
Topics like how
primary teachers feel
about virtual learning
and the differences in
salary, media attention
and amenities based on
gender in sports were
some of the timely top
ics.
Others sought an
swers about the accu
racy of wearable devices
that track steps, what
it takes to make a film
from scratch with no
money and “Solving the
Dating Problem.”
Participants pre
sented their findings to
SPECIAL PHOTO
Sloan Fletcher is a student at
Piedmont University. She is
majoring in exercise science
and has competed on the
school’s cross country, track
and field and cycling teams.
other students, faculty,
and staff at locations
across the Demorest
campus and in Athens.
Most were face-to-face
with students answering
questions about their
respective topics, while
other presentations
were virtual.
“We have had the
Symposium in three dif
ferent formats now,” said
Dr. Julia Schmitz, associ
ate professor of biology.
“The first was in-person,
the second virtual due
to COV1D, and this year
it was a hybrid format to
allow for social distanc
ing.”
With more students
than ever participating
in the day-long event on
both campuses, approxi
mately 120 faculty, staff,
and students volun
teered to be timekeep
ers/runners, judges, and
“bouncers,” who were
on the lookout for social
distancing and mask
compliance.
Sloan Fletcher
graduated with honors
from Pike County High
School in 2017 where
she played soccer. She
has competed at Pied
mont College - now
Piedmont University
- on the schooFs cross
country, track and field
and cycling teams. She
is majoring in exercise
science.
LORD POUR OUT YOUR
2021
LOVE, LIFE,
NATIONAL DAY
AND LIBERTY
OF PRAYER
THURSDAY
NOON
Pike County Courthouse
MAY 6, 2021
2 CORINTHIANS 3:17
/f
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and
where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is freedom.
K c W^T m r
Sponsored by
Prayer Power of Georgia
www.prayerower4u.net
PHOTO BY HAL MASSIE
Nathan Klaus works at the site of a controlled burn. A burn ban is in effect until September to
improve air quality in the state.
Burn ban in effect until September
Georgia’s annual ban
on outdoor burning
started May 1 in 47 coun
ties, including Pike. The
Georgia Environmental
Protection Division (EPD)
puts the restrictions in
place during the summer
months, when increases
in ground level ozone may
create health risks.
For seven counties
that are normally in
cluded in the summer
burn ban, restrictions
will start June 1, giving
them time to clear debris
from April storms. Those
counties include Upson,
Banks, Catoosa, Chat
tooga, Floyd, Gordon and
Walker.
“From May until Sep
tember 1, open burning
of yard and land-clearing
debris is prohibited in
some counties where
particulate matter pollut
ants and chemicals from
smoke are more likely
to combine with emis
sions from vehicles and
industrial activities,” said
Frank Sorrells, Chief of
Protection for the Georgia
Forestry Commission.
“That’s more likely to
occur in cities, where
there’s more asphalt and
concrete than open green
space and trees to help
cool and filter air. The
risk of wildfire also may
be high in summer, so
our agencies are closely
monitoring air quality
and weather conditions
for the safety of all Geor
gians.”
May through Sep
tember is when people,
particularly children, are
more likely to be out
doors. Higher levels of
ground-level ozone and
particle pollution levels
are known to contribute
to lung problems and
heart disease.
“During this time of
increased focus on safety
and respiratory issues in
response to COVID-19, the
GFC will be particularly
mindful about the poten
tial impact of smoke in
every area of the state,”
said Georgia Forestry
Commission Director
Chuck Williams. “The GFC
and EPD carefully moni
tor air quality indices and
will continue to do so
wherever prescribed fire
is permitted.”
For more on the EPD
summer burn ban go to
epd.georgia.gov/ and
click on “Open Burning
Rules for Georgia” under
Popular Topics.
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