Third Annual Hastings High School Science Symposium

Recently, Hastings High School juniors and seniors in the two-year Science Research class displayed their projects prior to their summer internships or moving on to college. Opening remarks were made by Science Chair and teacher Ms. Melissa Shandroff. Hastings High School seniors Faith Shaeffer and Sarah Markley spoke; and the guest speaker was Dr. Peter Kelemen, Arthur D. Storke Memorial Professor and Chair of Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory.

Students enter the Science Research class program as a junior with a two-year commitment. Students in the class participate in authentic research projects. The idea for the project comes from the student by exploring what they are interested in and then finding a mentor. The summer between junior and senior year is intense as the students then serve in an internship under the guidance of their mentor, furthering their knowledge of their subject area.

This year’s junior class has summer internships at Memorial Sloan Kettering, Columbia University, Stone Barnes, New York University, American Museum of Natural History, Mount Sinai Hospital, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Stony Brook University, and Boston Leadership Institute.

According to Ms. Shandroff, students are informed about the upcoming Science Research program during their sophomore year. “This is a perfect class for someone who is self-directed, interested in the research process, and wants to work in a lab or out in the field. Students are often working at a graduate school level.”

She added that what makes this year’s class unusual is the ratio of senior to juniors: 4 to 18. It is the smallest senior cohort and conversely the largest junior cohort of students.

Part of the course is presenting the students with the opportunity to attend competitions. On June 6, two students have elected to enter the Westlake High School Competition for first year research students. There will be many more opportunities next year.

Junior Katharine Berman joined the program as she heard her brother’s friends two grades above her in the class talking about it and their projects sounded cool. She will be present and speak about her research at the Westlake competition. This summer she is working at The Ross Levine Lab, Memorial Sloan Kettering under Dr. Ross Levine. The focus of the Levine lab is to improve understanding of the genetic basis of myeloid malignancies, with a specific focus on the role of oncogenic disease alleles in the pathogenesis of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Katharine’s interest in science stems from growing up in a household with two medical physicians as parents.

Another junior attending the Westlake competition is Leah Goldberg. She knew about the program from friends who entered it as sophomores in the other Westchester County schools. Leah attended the Science Research Symposium as a sophomore at Hastings High School and knew that the field of science is something that she definitely wanted to pursue.

Leah will be working this summer at Columbia University under Dr. Peter Dayan who specializes in Pediatric Emergency Medicine. She will be going through databases and analyzing risk factors for recurrent seizures. During her time in the Science Research class, Leah hopes to discover if she wants to pursue a career in medicine. She knows she wants to pursue science.

The internship work in a real science environment and with real life application is why Adam Gardner enrolled in the course. Since eighth grade he has had an interest in neuroscience and behavioral science. Adam explains that you take the class if you are into science, like independent coursework, and want a great opportunity to find out what part of science interests you. It is structured very differently than a regular class at the high school as you do a lot of work over the summer then enter competitions in September and October.

Adam will be working at Columbia Psychiatry under Dr. William Fifer whose research interests focus on fetal and neonatal behavioral, physiological and central nervous system development. He will be looking at the effects of alcohol and drugs on the pre-natal brain.

Senior Projects:

Ava Dishian: Is Looking Longer More Pleasurable?

Sarah Markley: Does Beaver Activity in Lakes Impact Water Quality?

Faith Shaeffer: Impact of Social Isolation During Adolescence n Neuronal Shape

Campbell Silverstein: How Do Speed Reading Apps Affect Comprehension?

Junior Projects:

Katharine Berman: Identification of Inherited and Acquired Disease Alleles in MPN Pathogenesis

Nathan Blum: Carbon Sequestration by Serpentine Carbonation

Clara Curbera: The Role o f NR2B-containing NMDAR in the Hippocamus and Its Impairments in Plasticity

Julia Dietz: An Analysis of the Success of Sustainable Crop Growth Based on Preparation Time, Yield, and Demand

Adam Gardner: The Effect of Substance Abuse on Infant Sleep Cycles and Future Intelligence

Leah Goldberg: Risk Factors Associated with Recurrence after a First Unprovoked Afebrile Seizure in Children

Anna Guterman: Astrobiology: The Goals and Implications of the Search for Life in Our Solar System

Hannah Hatch: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution

Hannah Jenney: The Effect of Prenatal Phthalate Exposure on Motor Functions in Adolescents

Lucille Kelemen: Is the Skin Microbiota of Humpback Whales Susceptible to Environmental Influences?

Destiny Morales: The Effects of Familiar Distractors on Selective Attention

Casey Odesser: fMRI Comparison of Subjects with Bipolar Disorder and Subjects at Risk of Depression

Amelia Pollard: Changes in the Ross Ice Sheet of West Antartica

Catherine Ross: Uvigerina Foraminiferal Magnesium-Calcium Rations to Reconstruct Intermediate Pacific Temperatures

Mariel Schneider: Exploring Influences on Adolescent Nutritional Choices

Scott Sherman: The Role of Environment on the Effect of Music Therapy

Georgia Simchick: Tyrosine Kinase Signaling Regulation by SCF-mediated Degradation

Katrina Simchick: Effect of Active Immunization on Beta-Amyloid and Tau Protein and Mice Behavior

For more information on the Research Science Class, email shandroffm@hohschools.org