Offaly project on weight loss drug entered in Young Scientist Exhibition

TWO students at Gallen Community School researched the weight loss drug Ozempic for the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition.

In the project 'Subcutaneous Semaglutide - The new fashion trend', Grace Fallon and Ava Murray surveyed the experiences of people who have been prescribed a semaglutide (the generic name for the drug) medication.

The school gave some details of the project in a social media post: “It is a report on the side effects of Ozempic, and is an investigation on the truth of Ozempic, as the media tend to not report it. The girls conducted in-person interviews and online surveys to gain the most knowledge, in a completely un-biased format. They interviewed patients who had taken Ozempic, to hear their opinions of the drug and what they have experienced while being on it. And they surveyed students in our school on their knowledge of Ozempic, for them to understand where people are hearing about this medication.”

Grace Fallon and Ava Murray's project is entered in the Health & Wellbeing category in the major exhibition and competition in the RDS Dublin which runs until Saturday and has attracted more than 500 entries.

There are five projects from Tullamore College. 'Perimenopause Uncovered: Empowering women through knowledge' was entered by Emily McDarby and it seeks to close the gap between women’s lived experiences of perimenopause and society's limited understanding of it.

'Little Steps: Understanding height and growth differences' investigates the effect height has on a person's wellbeing and was carried out by Andrea Mecionyte.

Another Tullamore College student, Fionnán Murray, examined the effectiveness of zeolites as a soil amendment to reduce nitrate run-off from fertilisers to increase the bioavailability of the fertiliser and prevent eutrophication.

Students Tess Flynn, Anna Maunsell and Clodagh Hynes entered 'Liver Lifeline', an experiment to investigate if oxidising agents have the same effect on the liver as recommended supplements.

The fifth project from Tullamore College is 'Green Sheets: Sustainable Paper from Grass' which investigates whether grass paper could be a more effective material than traditional paper for packaging and is from students Ryan Plunkett and Cillian Farrell.

'Chicken Talk' is the title of a project from André Mulcahy Viegas, Alex Loughnane and Alfie McGrath from St Brendan's Community School, Birr, where they examine the effect of different chicken feeds on hens and their egg output and quality.

Students at Cistercian College Roscrea entered three projects. James Hyland's is titled 'It's Spreading Time: Are GPS fertiliser spreaders really more economical and environmentally friendly than their cheaper counterparts?' and compares GPS section control fertiliser spreaders to ordinary spreaders to deduce their relative effectiveness, both financially and environmentally.

The effects of blue light exposure on teenage mental health is the focus of the project undertaken by Jaafar El Kateb and Unai Guibert while Roscrea students Thomas Deegan, Ronan O'Neill and Jack Duggan teamed up for 'Are Slurry Additives the future of farming?', which aims to determine if slurry additives not only improve soil health, but also maximise grass growth.

In Meán Scoil an Chlochair in Kilbeggan, Clíodhna Kinnarney, Emma Sue Tandy and Emily O'Neill looked into healthy ways to increase serotonin levels in teenagers in their project 'Step up your day, endorphins are on the way!'

Emily O Brien, also from the Kilbeggan school, entered 'Sustainable Pest Control', which investigates if there is an alternative to using harsh chemically based pesticides in treating flies on cows.

The public exhibition takes place in the RDS from Thursday, January 9 to Saturday, January 11 from 9.30am to 5.30pm each day.