Included among the Special Awards at the recent West Central Regional Science Fair was a new award that recognize a student who conducted outstanding research in microbiology.
The inaugural award for “An Outstanding Microbiology Project that Seeks to Improve Human Health” was sponsored by Precision Analytical Laboratories of Northwest Arkansas. Lauralee Jarrett, a senior from Brinkley, was the recipient of the new award, which included a $100 prize.
“As a microbiology teacher and a board member of the West Central Regional Science Fair, I am particularly grateful that this opportunity exists for students contributing to microbiology research,” said Dr. Whitney Holden, a life science specialist at ASMSA who worked with the company to establish the award.
“I personally want to convey my gratitude to Eric Whitney and others at Precision Analytical Labs for their willingness to provide the funding to recognize a deserving student like Lauralee. An award like this one serves to encourage and inspire the next generation of researchers and doctors to ask questions, design experiments and draw conclusions that benefit our entire community.”
Holden praised Jarrett for her research project that shows a clear correlation between antibiotics sold for agricultural use and a rise in antibiotic-resistant E. coli infections.
“This year’s winner has shown what is possible when a creative and motivated student sets her mind to a research endeavor,” Holden said. “She has a background in raising livestock and has seen first-hand the use of antibiotics to increase size in livestock. Now she has a science fair project that shows how dangerous this practice can be when it contributes to antibiotic resistance in human pathogens like E. coli.”
The West Central Regional Science Fair was held Feb. 24-25 at ASMSA. An awards ceremony was held on Feb. 25. In addition to the Precision Analytical Laboratories award, Jarrett won first place in the Microbiology category and was one of six finalists considered for the competition’s overall awards.