A ‘MASTERS’ in innovation
Local student counted among nation’s next generation of scientists and engineers
In early September, the Society for Science and the Public and the Broadcom Foundation announced the top 300 finalists in the 2020 Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Accelerated Science, Technology and Engineering for Rising Stars) competition – the nation’s “premier” middle school science and engineering fair.
Named among other aspiring scientists, engineers and innovators from 34 states and Puerto Rico was Yuma’s Matthew Moore, then an eighth-grader at Crane Middle School.
Aside from Moore, only nine other Arizona students were selected, representing middle schools in Chandler, Scottsdale and Tucson.
With his project titled, “Mitigating E. coli Populations in Contaminated Agricultural Irrigation Water: Which Purification Method Is More Effective in Reducing the Number of E. coli Colonies on Sprinkler-Irrigated Romaine Leaves: Copper Exposure or UV-C Radiation?,” Moore focused on
finding a solution for a local issue: the 2018 E. coli outbreak in Yuma-grown romaine lettuce.
Using copper and ultraviolet light, Moore worked to determine the most effective method for purifying and reducing the number of E. coli colonies on sprinkler-irrigated romaine.
“(The outbreak) was a problem because some people died, a lot of people got sick and it was really bad for the ag industry,” said Matthew. “I wanted to see if I could come up with a way to solve this problem. I found out that copper has an effect that will kill bacteria that comes into contact with it, and I also knew that UV light has the potential to kill bacteria, so I designed a box that you could put copper or UV-C in (and) run water through, and it would kill the E. coli that was in the water. I found that it worked.”
Now a freshman at Cibola High School, Moore said he has plans to take the project even further.
“I plan on making this a larger-scale project – I want to see if I can do it on an actual field and see if results are the same,” he said.
According to Moore’s mother, he’s been invested in science and innovation since his early days as a Gowan Gator. He’s also drawn inspiration from his father, who is an agronomist.
“He started at Gowan Science Academy – that’s when he was first introduced to the concept of science fairs in fourth grade, and he’s continued to do projects every year since then,” said Cindy Moore. “He puts a lot of research into it, a lot of time. He likes to incorporate math, chemistry, engineering. He really enjoys and excels in the sciences – he comes up with an idea and he goes with it, and he always makes it very hands-on. He builds things in our garage and our backyard, he’s built a sanitation station, he put together a sprinkler system last year. He does things that I would never think of.”
According to Matthew, his involvement in science, particularly through this project, has helped him grow in both skill and wisdom while deepening his connection to his community.
“I think I’ve learned a lot more about the field of science, the people that are in that field and how important it is to society,” said Matthew. “I think
I’ve learned a lot more about the world because of science fairs and through studying science. I’ve learned a lot about ag – in Yuma, ag is the biggest industry there is and so I understand a lot more about Yuma and the community as a whole because of agriculture.”
Although he wasn’t among the 30 finalists chosen from the cohort of 300, Matthew said the recognition served to validate the hard work and dedication he poured into the project this summer, including the 20-30 hours he devoted to the application alone.
“It was reassuring, because I spent a lot of time on that project this year,” said Matthew. “The application process also took a lot of time. There was a lot of writing involved. It was a feeling of pride and relief that my work was being recognized.”