The World Through an Electron Microscope Part 2: Okayama Prefectural Tamashima High School The soil contains such beautiful species! How the experience of discovery and presentations using electron microscopes led to my path of research.

Oshima: Because an important part of the SSH initiative is the process of presenting the research in posters and papers, we compiled the results of our summer studies on posters and presented them to universities and research groups in the fall.

Ikeda: As we were explaining our posters, the impact of the electron microscope pictures seemed to attract people's attention, and many people stopped to take a look. After that, we made improvements by increasing the number of images and adding photos of samples from Iriomote Island. As a result, we were able to win the Poster Award at two competitions: The "High School Students: My Science Research Project Presentation - Science Research! Come All Who Want to Present!" held by the Kobe University Faculty of Human Development and "The 40th Annual Convention of the Soil Science Society of Japan, High School Division."

Oshima: While putting together the poster, Ikeda asked for guidance from professors at the university and from a variety of people, including Dr. Shin Watanabe of the University of the Ryukyus, who had supervised him during his study on Iriomote Island. Another thing that I think helped Ikeda grow was his experience giving presentations at the Life Park Kurashiki Science Center.

Ikeda: I agree. I think it was in the winter of my first year that I was given the opportunity to participate in presentations by Hitachi High-Tech to show photographs taken using their electron microscopes and explain how they work, their functions, and how they are different from optical microscopes. There, I gave a series of presentations of about 20 minutes each, but because the audience was different each time, I had to provide easy-to-understand explanations for each group, which included elementary school students, high school students, and parents with children. By repeating the presentation and receiving advice from the staff members in charge of science education support activities at Hitachi High-Tech, I learned the importance of adapting the content of my talk to match the audience. There were two consecutive days of presentations lasting about 8 hours, so it was quite hard but fun at the same time. The skills I developed here were very valuable for my later research presentations.

Oshima: At first, Ikeda seemed to have trouble speaking and was struggling, but before long, he was adding his own knowledge to the explanation without us having to instruct him, and I could see that he was progressing over just the course of one day. After that, I had him give a presentation on his research activities at a Saturday class at Kurashiki Seiryo High School where I am currently working, and the students were surprised that a fellow high school student could speak so confidently in front of others.

Ikeda: I was in the tennis club in junior high school, but I had trouble dealing with nervousness, so I often found it hard to focus on the game because I would worry about the people around who were watching. In high school, at the beginning, my voice and hands would tremble when I gave a presentation, but after giving presentations in various places and going through a lot of trial and error, I was able to come up with my own answer, that is, nervousness is not something that is eliminated, but rather it is something that you get used to.

Ikeda: I am currently focusing on evolutionary ecology studies at university. I have been studying mites that eat moss, and have presented my research at the Bryological Society of Japan and the Acarological Society of Japan. When I chose to join the biology club in high school, I never dreamed that I would continue researching mites even after entering university. As a result of continuing my research, I have come to understand many interesting things about mites, so I am extremely grateful for the many experiences I received through using the electron microscope in high school.

Oshima: At the time, I thought that it would have been more impressive if the students had first experienced using a magnifying glass or an optical microscope before learning about the world of Electron Microscopes.

Ikeda: I agree. But for me, the impact of the seeing the Atropacarus (Hoplophorella) cucullatus mite with the electron microscope was more than enough. By examining the mite from various directions, such as from the front and sides, the electron microscope gave me a more concrete idea of the mite's form and what it looks like it. It was this that I found appealing and that made me want to pursue research on mites. I am now working hard toward my future action target of becoming a mite researcher.
In recent years, new things are being actively discovered even about the most familiar organisms. Because of this, I would encourage everyone to recognize the importance of observing familiar organisms. I hope that younger students will also experience the excitement and wonder of using an electron microscope to make new discoveries and understand the mechanisms of the microscopic structures of various organisms.