Week 0: Introduction

Hello all, and welcome to my Senior Project blog! My name is Yuna Stechert, and I’ve been going to BASIS Independent Brooklyn for ten years. I plan on studying biological engineering in college, and have been interested in plant physiology and incubator construction since seventh grade. Previously, I’ve explored botanical science with the community biolab Genspace, including a minor involvement in microbiology. Utilizing my previous experience, I intend to grow the model organism Alfalfa (or Medicago Sativa) using customized incubators with different types of soil (both terrestrial and Martian). Then, I will work with my off-site mentor Mrs. Baessa to treat the plant groups with a common plant growth promoting bacteria– Azospirillum Brasilense. The goal of this project is to demonstrate that Azospirillum Brasilense works as a fertilizer when used on replicant Martian soil, similarly to earth-tested methods. For my on-site internship, I am tentatively considering studying at the Jackson Lab at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. But In the next ten weeks, I will outline my research process in and out of the wet-lab environment, and deliver a scientific paper summarizing my findings. Thank you for reading, and I look forward to updating soon!