When five Hillcrest High juniors apply to college, they will have something on their applications which few others across the world will be able to include.

The girls will have spent nearly two years on providing insight to the effects of microgravity on nematodes, which act as a natural pest control. Their results may provide information about space agriculture and a step toward growing sustainable food for astronauts.

Currently, their project, “Nematodes to the Rescue,” is aboard the International Space Station, after being loaded onto Space X’s Falcon 9 on Nov. 4. 

It was one of 30 student projects chosen from around the world for the astronauts to conduct as part of NASA’s Student Spaceflight Experiments Program, said Hillcrest teacher Clief Castleton, who serves an adviser for students.

“This could change the future,” Castleton said. “It could help determine long-term flights and if we set a permanent base on Mars, it could be as a natural pesticide and become a practical solution for controlling pests when growing crops in space. That’s a game changer. This has been a wonderful opportunity for the team. It’s an authentic science research opportunity — from designing the project to writing a proposal to each step of the experiment to carrying it out on Earth and preparing it for space.”

It’s the second time Hillcrest High students’ experiment has been selected to study in space. Selected in 2010, in the second year of SEEP, Hillcrest students sent a frog embryo study on the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

This group was one of 15 groups of Hillcrest High students who applied with proposals. More than 4,000 proposals were submitted worldwide, Castleton said.

The girls were amazed when they continued to advance in the selection process. It was announced they were chosen at a December 2023 school assembly.

Junior Bella Nguyen said it was surprising because she didn’t think they would be chosen.

“If we're being honest, we are not that big into science at first,” she said. “The more we got into our topic, and talked to our mentor, the more our interest grew.”

They connected virtually with their mentor, USDA fruit and tree nut research entomologist David Shapiro-Ilan in Georgia, after they researched and learned about space agriculture, a topic which appealed to them. He provided the students with the nematodes.

“Space agriculture hasn’t had as much research compared to other topics. I like the fact there's so much information which hasn't been explored yet, but at the same time, with the research that has been explored, I’d want to connect them to learn more about the world,” Nguyen said.

It’s been a steep learning curve. 

Before this, junior Rosemary Lu hadn’t heard of nematode. Now she, and others on the team, interact with professionals who study the microscopic roundworms about the way they can target an insect’s immune system within a day or two.

“Our experiment looks into how two types of nematodes are able to infect mealworms in microgravity to determine how well they work as a pest control,” she said noting the same experiment which was sent to space also was conducted by the team in Midvale. “I’ve been able to understand more of what professionals do in the field. I’ve learned how to research and write proposals and grants.”

Nguyen said they learned to communicate and manage their time.

“One night, we were sitting here until 6 p.m. doing our research paper with Castleton. We wanted to make sure everyone understands the implications and how it's going to affect the world,” she said. “I’m grateful for the experience, because it teaches you a lot about the scientists’ work.”

Junior Jasmine He said they learned to problem-solve and adjust their experiment through trial and error.

“We had a few challenges with the actual testing of the experiment,” she said. “We learned a lot of things don't work as well in reality as they work on paper. We had to get the amount of the materials just right, or else the worms may get too hot, and they die, or maybe they won't get to the food because something else is off.”

The group also had to meet exact measurements and rules which different entities required.

“Everything had to be perfect, and we had to do each step multiple times. It was tedious,” Nguyen said. 

That included weighing the 12 nematodes and mealworms which were packed in tubes filled with sand. The students had to find the right mix of sand, water and air to allow the worms to survive, then they had to calculate every aspect of the experiment which headed into space.

The eight-week experiment means the little worms should return to Earth in January, barring delays.

“If the nematodes work the same way in space as they do on Earth, then they're able to be effective pest control in space. That means we can start to grow plants in space and feed astronauts who need a more sustainable food source so nematodes will help with that. I like we’re exploring something new that will impact the future,” He said. “There’s a possibility what we learn can also help with environmentally friendly pest management on Earth.”

However, the team isn’t sure what to expect when the tiny worms return to Earth.

“If I’m optimistic, they will have juice so we can cut them open easily and get them under the microscope to study. If I'm being realistic, they're probably going to come back crunchy,” He said.

Nguyen said this is the uncertainty of the study since the resident time is double the time the group previously performed the experiment. That was on Earth and didn’t include the variables of shipping the experiment across the country to Kennedy Space Center or shuttling to the ISS, she added.

Castleton said the team members, which also include juniors Samhita Chavakula and Vidushi Shelat, will present their findings to a national audience this summer. Traditionally, it is held at the Smithsonian in June.

The career and technical education and math teacher hopes Hillcrest students will be selected to participate again next fall before the ISS comes down in 2031.

“We want to expose our students to as many real-world opportunities as we can,” he said about the opportunity that cost $27,000.

Castleton said the group received a $10,000 Canyons Education Foundation grant and the school chipped in $15,000. The team fundraised for the remaining $2,000 and was supported by the Husky STEAM space.

While none of the girls have ambitions to go into space and are busy with other high school activities — debate, DECA, FBLA, HOSA, competitive piano, tennis and more, Nguyen said she has become more interested in a career field in research.

“This has become educational in a way that I wouldn’t have received anywhere else. It’s something I’ve appreciated and can share with others,” she said. “It’s still amazing to think we have a project in space right now.”

He agrees.

“I like doing actual research; it's a lot different from the labs we do in class. It’s connected to real issues, where there isn’t a set path to follow as a lab procedure,” she said. “We want to write it and submit it to a journal so we can share our results with other scientists who are doing the similar research.”

Through the experiment, Lu gained something else.

“This has made it so I can just pick up mealworms now. I used to be, ‘They’re really gross,’” she said. “Now I'm like, whatever. I don’t even bother to get the tweezers anymore.” λ