Ossining Science Students Win Awards in Regional, Statewide Competitions

Ossining High School students have excelled in two science competitions in the past week – the Upstate New York Junior Science & Humanities Symposium and the Westchester Science & Engineering Fair – and several will move on to compete at the national level.

Last Saturday, 50 OHS students were among the more than 500 who participated in the Regeneron Westchester Science & Engineering Fair, the region’s largest and most competitive Intel-affiliated science competition. They received a total of 48 awards – seven for first place, nine for second place, six for third place, 11 for fourth place and 15 special awards.

Five Ossining students who earned the top scores overall have qualified for an all-expenses-paid trip to compete in the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair May 10-16 in Phoenix: Michael Earle (physics and astronomy), Sarah Fendrich (behavior), Matthew Forman (behavior), Charlotte Keeley (plant science) and Jack Lepkowski (behavior). The top 12 individual projects and three top teams won trips to Phoenix. They will be joined by more than 1,700 students from some 70 countries at the event, often referred to as the “Super Bowl of Science Fairs.”

Also at WESEF, seniors Yasir Khan and Julia Riley were selected to attend the International Sustainable World Project Olympiad, which is held annually in Houston. The event draws more than 400 students from over 70 countries.

“Ossining students once again defended their title as the strongest science research program in the area,” said Angelo Piccirillo, co-teacher of the Science Research program at OHS.

At the Upstate New York Junior Science & Humanities Symposium last week, five OHS seniors received awards. Charlotte Keeley won first place in the biology and environmental science category. She will be part of the New York delegation to the 54th National Junior Science & Humanities Symposium April 27-30 in Dayton, Ohio, which is sponsored by the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force. She is one of 230 high school students in the regional competitions who will compete nationally.

The other four OHS students and the awards they received are:

• Alina Campbell, second place in biology and environmental science
• Julia Riley, second place in cellular and molecular biology
• Yasir Khan, third place in biomedical sciences
• Claire Sukumar, third place in behavioral sciences

These are the WESEF winners:

First place

• Kiran Goveas (animal science)
• Sarah Fendrich (behavioral science)
• Zoe Scheier (behavioral science)
• Zachary Silbert (Earth and space science)
• Yasir Khan (microbiology)
• Michael Earle (physics and astronomy)
• Charlotte Keeley (plant science)

Second place:

• Kimberly Badger (animal science)
• Matthew Forman and Jack Lepkowski (behavioral science)
• Sasha Souillard (behavioral science)
• Lorenzo Muranelli (biochemistry)
• Julia Riley (biochemistry)
• Lior Raz-Farley (cell and molecular biology)
• Adriana Scanteianu (computer bioinformatics)
• Cen Chen (physics and astronomy)

Third place:

• Benjamin Feinstein (behavioral science)
• Claire Sukumar (behavioral science)
• Jane Mundadan and Michelle Zhang (biochemistry)
• Nick Tremaroli (computer science)
• Alina Campbell (environmental science)

Fourth Place

• Reid Komosa, Sandy Castillo and Pedro Montes De Oca II (animal science)
• Jesse Bernstein (behavioral science)
• Oliver Krupinski (behavioral science)
• Nikhil Shah (biochemistry)
• Sade Tukuru (biochemistry)
• Mark Zhinin (cell and molecular biology)
• Nick San Martin (engineering)
• Brianna Cauthen (medicine and health)
• Madeline Zarro (microbiology)

Special awards:

• Ben Radhuber: American Meteorological Award; NOAA Award
• Kevin Grigera: American Psychological Association
• Yoo Shin Tanai: ASM Materials Education Foundation Award
• Jason Aguirre: ASU Walton Sustainability Solutions Award
• Marcus Roman: ASU Walton Sustainability Solutions Award
• Kimberly Badger: Greg Horrace Award
• Kristen Miniham: Mu Alpha Theta Award
• Reid Komosa: Teatown Young Naturalist Award
• Sandy Castillo and Pedro Montes De Oca II: NASA Earth System Science Award
• Ben Radhuber: NOAA Taking the Pulse of the Planet Award
• Annalee Tacuri: Society for In Vitro Biology Award
• Jason Aguirre: Stockholm Junior Water Prize
• Julian Ivanov: The Walter Kress Excellence in Behavioral Science Award
• Jennifer Meikle: Teatown Young Naturalist Award
• Gregory Vutera: The American Psychological Association Award
  

Photos: Ossining WESEF finalists who are advancing to the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair are Jack Lepkowski and Matthew Forman for a team project (photo 1); Sarah Fendrich (photo 2); Michael Earle (photo 3); and Charlotte Keeley (photo 4).