Mr. And Mrs. James Strnad formed the Strnad Fellowship program in 1968 to allow students interested in S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) to pursue particular areas of interest through their own independent research. Junior and senior Strnad fellows design either a one-year or two-year project, answering a research question revolving around the student’s particular area of interest. I sat down with Strnad fellow, Neil Malte, to find out more about his project and the fellowship. “The whole idea of a Strnad is to do whatever you want to do,” states Malte. The program also supports full year, unpaid internships. Internship opportunities have been available at places like Case Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, University Hospitals, and more.
Neil Malte is a two year Strnad fellow, currently researching hydroponics. Hydroponics is the process of growing plants without the use of soil. The purpose of his project is to develop a system of plant growth in which the plants are dependent on a specific bacteria strain, Azospirillum brasilense. This is to make hydroponic systems more cost effective through using natural nutrients rather than artificial or commercial chemicals.
I asked Neil more about his project. “Hydroponics is basically growing plants without using soil. The basis is that you are using a nutrient solution that will feed into the plants through a way that you get the water to the roots of the plants,” he says. “One reason that it is used is because certain islands don’t have as much land to work with so this way is a great way to grow plants for an entire community,” he continues.
Malte’s research question attempts to make hydroponics more cost effective. “My goal is to see how that bacteria really changes the growth rate of the plant just to see what exactly that bacteria strain does to the plant, and then I’m trying to test out if I can slowly make my system reliant on the bacteria instead of the commercial chemical’s I’m using, because the chemicals are expensive,” Neil states. He’ll be comparing his system to a system grown only with commercial nutrients. “I’m buying a chlorophyll meter to basically just check how healthy the leaves and the plant is overall…. I’m going to be doing some spectroscopy for the amount of nitrogen in the plant,” Neil says. He’ll be using the results obtained from the chlorophyll meter and spectroscopy to compare.
The Strnad program and Anderson Scholar Program have inspired Neil to become interested in hydroponics. “The first year of our Anderson Scholar program there was a field trip where we went to the nearby Case Western Reserve farm. Basically, it was a tour of their overall facility, and there was one part where they were growing plants hydroponically, and soon after I was interested in the process of growing plants hydroponically. That launched my interest in it,” Neil relates. “I feel like in the future I would still try to keep some kind of farm or some kind of garden, so that’s my impact from the Strnad,” Neil explains. Neil is just one out of many Strnad fellows who have become inspired by their projects. The program is a fantastic way for students to find their true passions and delve deep into them.
ashokkumar m.malte • Aug 22, 2017 at 7:09 am
I find both the project and fellowship support very laudible