Oklahoma native, Austin Hooten was diagnosed with lymphoma in the sixth grade. As he went through chemotherapy, he learned the plastic port used to deliver the medications was a by-product of oil and gas. It inspired him to research more products that are made from oil and gas by-products. Ultimately, Hooten used what he learned to develop his agriscience fair projects. The project earned Hooten a first-place win at the National FFA Convention & Expo.
He told FFA.org, ““It was a huge accomplishment for me and really cool to know that all of the hard work really paid off.”
The research didn’t stop there. With the help of a FFA grant, Austin used the research from his agriscience project for his supervised agricultural experience (SAE) to explore precision agriculture. It earned him a top 4 spot at the national FFA convention & Expo.
According to FFA.org, Hooten has been in remission since 2015 and its majoring in animal science and agribusiness at Oklahoma State University.
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