Benilde-St. Margaret’s Bio Med 3 classes took the Twin Cities Regional Science Fair by storm with their mice, pigskin, and medical instruments on March 1st at the State Fair Coliseum. They have been preparing for this fair the whole year, working tirelessly to conduct experiments and research.

As first time participants of the Twin Cities Regional Science Fair, BSM students were not expecting much when it came to awards and advancing to the state competition. “We had really low expectations, we were like ‘okay we put in all this effort let’s just see what happens’,” Senior Megan Daubenberger said.

Daubenberger and Abby O’Neil’s project was on the effects of vaping on mice’s cognitive abilities and their sense of smell. Their project involved live mice that they had to come in on the weekends and take care of.  “We definitely put in many, many hours,” Daubenberger said.

Senior Frannie Scherer’s project involved some pigskin and a micropipette. “I tested how CBD oil is diffused into the skin, and whether the addition of a silicone transdermal patch would aid and prolong the absorption of the oil,” Scherer said.

Aspiring to pursue a career in biomedical science, Senior Doreen Liu’s project falls under a study that goes hand in hand with her future plans. “Mine was about the sterilization of medical equipment and instruments using high temperature and pressure,” Liu said.

The competition was extremely intense considering that for some students, these science fairs are like their sections tournament or performance. “Many of the other competitors were very dedicated to their project. Dance is to me as the Science fair is to them – they were very committed and worked on their project very seriously and intensely,” Scherer said.

The judging is fairly unique because of the variety of judges. Some are students from universities and others were experts in their field. There were five official judges that everyone talked to, but there were also some “special” judges that talked to the competitors they wanted to. “I talked to about 10 judges total, but it was not announced who were the official judges and who were special judges,” Scherer said.

BSM students Doreen Liu, Frannie Scherer, Abby O’Neil, and Megan Daubenberger pleasantly surprised themselves with a trip to state in a clearly competitive field. Doreen Liu also walked away with an award from the Minnesota Society of Microbiology. “I wasn’t expecting awards or anything, but I got awards so that’s good” Liu said.

The state competition will be held from March 30-31, the Saturday of Spring Break, at the Earle Brown Heritage Center.