For senior Hannah Wiedner, science is a passion. Wiedner tries to pursue it in many forms, including summer programs and independent studies. Her love has been apparent ever since she was a young girl.
“My mom first sparked my interest in science. She would set up fun science activities in our kitchen and take my brothers and I to the Science Center or zoo every day,” Wiedner said. “I’ve been participating in science fairs since elementary school. My favorite project I’ve done would be my third grade project which showed that my dog had the same amount of bacteria in its mouth as the people at my school called ‘Would You Smooch My Pooch?’”
Her interest heightened when she arrived at Central, where she met Mr. Adam Bergeron. Her sophomore year she decided to do an independent study with him to complete a project for the honors level in the St. Louis Science Fair; as a finalist she won a $1,000 scholarship.
“The project that I’m most proud of is the one I submitted this year entitled ‘Pseudo-Estrogen Bisphenol A Alters NormalDrosophila Development,’ which shows how bisphenol A changes biological processes in model organisms,” Wiedner said.
Wiedner says that her favorite course has been this independent study because of the freedom she has had.
“I was able to select a topic of interest and develop a project around it,” Wiedner said. “It’s a really interesting experience to direct your own learning and keep yourself focused. Getting significant findings at the end of the day makes all the work worth it.”
Wiedner has been working on this independent study for two years, which wasn’t what she originally planned.
“We spoke about BPA and its potential effects on living organisms,” Bergeron said. “She wanted to study how this chemical might affect cancer cells, but that’s a bit ambitious for high school. She switched the model a bit to suit it for a biology classroom.”
Wiedner has since had the opportunity to take her ideas into other settings.
“I’m employed as a computer science instructor for middle school kids,” she said. “And over the summer this past year I worked in breast cancer research lab at WashU through the Young Scientist Program.”
Wiedner will attend the Univeristy of Miami to study biology and hopes to work with animals or medicine.
“We overuse the phrase the sky’s the limit, but she will do some amazing things,” Bergeron said. “It’s hard to rank her among the students I’ve had, but she’s one of the best.”
