Fairbanks, Petersburg students top science competition
March 31, 2015
Meghan Murphy
907-474-7541
3/30/15
High school students from Fairbanks and Petersburg, Alaska, placed in the top 10 at a University of Alaska Fairbanks statewide competition for original research on March 28 and 29. Thirty-two high school students competed in Alaska Statewide High School Science Symposium, hosted by the College of Natural Science and Mathematics.
The Alaska event is one of 48 regional symposia where high school students complete original research in science, technology, engineering or mathematics with the help of a mentor. They then make oral and written presentations at the symposium to compete for scholarships and cash prizes.
The winners are from West Valley High School in Fairbanks and Petersburg High School in Petersburg. They are: Katherine Bates (first, WVHS), Ian Fleming (second, PHS), Brooke Gottmeier (third, WVHS), Michael Kaden-Hoffman (fourth, WVHS), Quetzal Luebke-Laroque (fifth, WVHS), Marlene Bond (sixth, WVHS), Dawson Verley (seventh, WVHS), David Chen (eighth, WVHS), Angie Randall (ninth, WVHS), Summer Morton (10th, PHS).
All winners received plaques and cash prizes. The top four finalists will receive a $4,200 scholarship to UAF. The first-, second-, third- and fourth-place winners receive an additional $2,000, $1,500, $1,000 and $500 scholarship, respectively, to the school of their choice. The first five winners will travel to the 53rd National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium in Maryland, April 29-May 2, to compete for additional prizes and scholarship money of up to $12,000.
The research arm of the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force sponsors the award to encourage high school students to consider education and career paths in the sciences. The Academy of Applied Science, a nonprofit dedicated to inventive thinking and research, administers the award. The program also receives support from the Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, the Alaska Science Consortium and the Usibelli Foundation.
Abel Bult-Ito, the symposium’s director and a UAF neurobiology professor, said the symposium has served 1,519 high school students during its 30 years of operation, and has awarded more than $1 million in cash awards, scholarships and travel funds.
He said while the symposium is a competition, students gain valuable skills, conduct college-level research and contribute knowledge to real research questions.
"All the students here are winners," said Bult-Ito.
ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Abel Bult-Ito, ASHSSS director and UAF professor of neurobiology in the department of biology and wildlife, at 907-978-2169 or abultito@alaska.edu
ON THE WEB: JSHS: www.jshs.org; ASHSSS: www.uaf.edu/cnsm/ashsss/
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