To the BVU School of Science Victors, Go the Spoils
BVU's School of Science launched a Science Pentathlon where students went head-to-head in a five-week, academic competition with prizes funded by the Stine Family Endowment.
As Anthony Baird prepares for a new chapter in his academic journey this summer, he’s familiarizing himself with a new tablet for his use at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry. The device comes courtesy of the Buena Vista University Stine Family Endowment, which sponsored an academic competition for more than a dozen BVU students as the 2020-21 academic year came to a close.
“Because of COVID-19 during the past year, we were limited on experiential learning opportunities often provided by the Stine Family Endowment,” says Baird, a biomedical sciences major from Moville. “Faculty members in the School of Science came up with a BVU Science Pentathlon in its place. We had a lot of fun with it.”
Members of the winning team earned $600 apiece. Participants on other teams earned awards ranging from $400 to $333 to be used in enhancing their academic study. Baird purchased a tablet.
Teams in the BVU Science Pentathlon consisted of three to five students. The five-week competition featured events that ranged from creating a water-balloon launch to propel a stuffed beaver through the air to baking gluten-free cookies to making a substance with a specified molarity. Some competitions were limited to a tight window, such as a 20-minute time slot. Others played out over three hours. A running scoreboard kept students apprised of the order of teams as events concluded.
“The competition gave us a little fun break from classes, but it still kept us using concepts we’ve been learning during class.”
Jade Hays, biomedical sciences major
Jade Hays, a BVU senior from Coon Rapids, like Baird, managed time wisely during the spring, picking her spots to focus on the Science Pentathlon amid other class requirements and her commitment to BVU track and field. Hays actually had volleyball and track and field running simultaneously for a few weeks this spring as the volleyball season played out in March and April, a delay from the fall brought on by the pandemic.
“That last big event of the Science Pentathlon coincided with us competing for BVU at the Drake Relays,” says Hays, a biomedical sciences major. “I was at Drake, along with Anthony and Tabitha Guyett, so we relied on Molly Barten to handle the last challenge for our team by herself.”
Barten, a senior biomedical sciences major from Zearing who completed an internship with BVU’s landmark Undergraduate Rural Medicine Education and Development (URMED) program this spring, was able to swab areas of campus for bacteria and record the results for her team. Guyett, a biomedical sciences and psychology double-major from Omaha, incidentally, was an URMED scholar the previous year.
“The competition gave us a little fun break from classes, but it still kept us using concepts we’ve been learning during class,” says Hays.
For Baird, the title and victor’s spoils provided a measure of consolation as he’d seen a Stine Family Endowment experiential learning exercise in Tanzania over the summer go for naught due to COVID-19 concerns.
The fifth member of the winning team was Greg Tystahl, a computer science and math double-major from Iowa Falls, who, like Hays, Guyette, and Baird, competed in track and field for the Beavers this spring, and also ran in the Drake Relays.
Baird begins his course of study at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry. Baird, who would be a senior this fall at BVU, will earn his undergraduate degree in December.
Hays, meantime, is involved in a microbiology research internship this summer at the University of Iowa, collaborating with Dr. Brittney Dinkel, BVU Assistant Professor of Biology.
Dr. Nathan Backman, BVU Stine Family Endowment Chair, directed the Science Pentathlon while working with fellow faculty members in the BVU School of Science that make up the Stine Committee. Events were devised by Backman and fellow faculty members Dr. Thom Bonagura, Dr. Brittney Dinkel, Dr. Gail Hartsock, Dr. Melanie Hauser, Dr. Lisa Mellmann, and Dr. Shawn Stone.
“The loss of our internship and academic travel experiences in the pandemic was a real setback to our science students,” says Bonagura, Dean of the BVU School of Science. “Through creativity and a desire to help students, the Stine Committee was able to leverage the generous donation of the Stine Family Endowment to continue Harry Stine’s vision of providing academic experiences for BVU students. We cannot express how deep our appreciation is to the Stine Family to allow us provide high-quality academic experiences, even in the face of a historically restrictive pandemic.”