NORTHERN TODAY 14 FALL 2015 STUDENT NEWS MARCOTT turned her love of plants into a research project that won the 2015 NSU Undergraduate Competitive Research Grant. She’ll be devoting much of this academic year to her research, and NSU’s new greenhouse is crucial to her work. Her project is titled “Fungicidal Properties of Essential Oils and Secondary Metabolites against Fungal Strains Common to Damping-Off Disease.” Marcott will be distilling essential oils from plants, including sagebrush, to test their effectiveness as an organic fungicide. She’ll compare their effectiveness to that of a commercial fungicide, Banrot. Exciting, challenging work Marcott aims to create an affordable, sustainable fungicide for the organic grower. Currently, there is no plant-based organic fungicide for root rot on the market, she said. “What we’re doing doesn’t really exist,” said Marcott, a sophomore. “That’s both exciting and incredibly challenging.” Also challenging is that Marcott is juggling her research with fulltime studies and a job. She was also introduced to the challenges of working on a grant-funded project – namely, it can be slow-going. But that slowness allowed her more time to read, research and plan the logistics of her project. Marcott is starting with stem cuttings and root divisions, preparing plants for distillation in the greenhouse. Along with sagebrush, which is very common in South Dakota, she is also using bee balm and yarrow. Oregano and thyme will be her positive control plants. She chose plants that are easily accessible and have botanical uses. Yarrow, for instance, has been used in soaps and to stop bleeding. She’s just starting her work in the greenhouse and said it’s a great facility with great people managing it. “The people are what make it run,” she said. Greenhouse crucial to project Northern’s greenhouse is crucial, as the fungal pathogens her research will test are highly infectious to plants, and those plants will need to be quarantined. The three fungi she’ll work with are Fusarium oxysporum, Pythium ultimum, and Rhizoctonia solani. Once they arrive, the project will pick up, likely in November and December. The project will also involve lab time and possibly use of some of Northern’s NSU greenhouse essential to student’s plant-based research When Sienna Marcott’s fiancé proposed to her, it was in a field of sagebrush – a romantic gesture to Marcott, as the plant is an integral part of the research she’s conducting this year at Northern State University. “What we’re doing doesn’t really exist,” said Marcott, a sophomore. “That’s both exciting and incredibly challenging.” Sienna Marcott, Northern State University sophomore S T UD E N T S
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