Student presents research project

Northwestern College junior Heidi Postma of Sheldon, Iowa, presented her honors research project at the Upper Midwest Honors Conference on April 14 in Dubuque, Iowa.

Postma, a biology health professions major, presented her research, “Behavioral and Electrophysiological Research on the Possible Anthelmintic Properties of the Botanical Dietary Supplements, Blue Cohosh and Black Cohosh, on the Parasitic Nematode, Ascaris suum.”

After completing summer research with Dr. Ralph Davis, associate professor of biology at Northwestern, Postma continued her research into the fall. Her project explored the effect of blue and black cohosh on parasitic worms that infect 1.2 billion people worldwide. The results warrant further research to determine if the dietary supplements can effectively expel parasitic worms from the human body.