Highlights from PHENOMENON: Science Innovation Fair

On May 31, the Bruce Museum’s Science Department welcomed 10 science students from area high schools who gave presentations of their cutting-edge research at the Fifth Annual PHENOMENON: Science Innovation Fair.

The 10 students were selected from 37 applicants in Westchester and Fairfield counties. The students are: Makenzie Boylan, Halla Clausi, Cynthia Chen, Aaron Cohen, Hannah Goldenberg, Hiba Hussain, Autumn Kim, Shun Sakai, Zachary Wang, and Verna Yin.

The finalists’ research covered topics that ranged from using the albedo of asteroids to determine surface composition, to constructing a coffee ground sponge that removes heavy metals from drinking water, to using bee venom to help molecules cross the blood-brain barrier. Each selected student demonstrated their prowess for scientific research as they tackled global issues, including everything from human health to climate change.

The top two projects, judged by noted regional scientists and based on scientific achievement as well as presentation, and the People’s Choice selection, received cash prizes during the awards ceremony.

In First Place was Verna Yin from Greenwich High School for her research on the removal of heavy metal and pollutants from contaminated drinking water using coffee grounds and a kitchen sponge. Cynthia Chen, also from Greenwich High School, earned second place honors for her research on developing a green nanotechnological approach for energy efficiency and conservation. The People’s Choice Award was awarded to Makenzie Boylen from Fox Lane High School in Bedford, NY, for her analysis of data from the Oak Bluff’s Monster Shark Fishing Tournament from 1987-2013.

The ceremony included a keynote speech by Raina Jain, a Greenwich High School junior and winner of the top engineering prize at the 2019 Connecticut Science and Engineering Fair for her work on controlling the spread of bee mites through the use of a thymol-emitting bee hive entrance.

“We are very lucky to have such rigorous high school research programs in our extended neighborhood, and students that are able to rise to meet the challenge.” Said Kate Dzikiewicz, the Bruce Museum’s Science Curatorial Associate. “The passion and expertise shown by these young scientists is inspirational, and I think we can expect big things from these students in the years to come.”