Young Scientist | Ontario Food Drive | Native Language

• Ekansh Mittal is an incoming freshman at West View High School in Beaverton. While he was in middle school, he came up with the idea that gut bacteria could be used to diagnose early stage cancer. He's one of 10 finalists in the 3M Young Scientist Challenge. Mittal joins us to tell us more about his project and the promise the idea holds.

• Nearly 13% of the population in Eastern Oregon is living without reliable access to enough food. In Malheur County, a recent emergency food drive saw over 150 families wait in line for hours in their cars to get boxes of food. Lindsay Grosvenor is a nutritionist for Valley Family Health Care in Ontario. She helped to organize the emergency food drive.

• There are only a few dozen living speakers of the Yakama dialect of the indigenous language Ichishkíin. Keegan Livermore wants to change that. Livermore is a masters student in Language Teaching Studies at the University of Oregon and a descendant of the Yakama Nation. He created a smartphone keyboard in Ichishkíin to help others learn the language. He joins us.

Contact "Think Out Loud"

If you'd like to comment on any of the topics in this show, or suggest a topic of your own, please get in touch with us on Facebook or Twitter, send an email to thinkoutloud@opb.org, or you can leave a voicemail for us at 503-293-1983. The call-in phone number during the noon hour is 888-665-5865.

br />