Greybull, Laramie, Southeast Students Top State Science Fair at UW

Students from Greybull High School, Laramie High School and Southeast High School had the top projects at the Wyoming State Science Fair held on the University of Wyoming campus March 3-5.

The three senior division winners are eligible to compete at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Phoenix, Ariz., later this spring. The ISEF is the world’s largest international precollege science competition. Each year, approximately 1,800 high school students from more than 75 countries, regions and territories showcase their independent research and compete for nearly $4 million in prizes.

Selected to represent Wyoming at the ISEF, listed by school, division category and project title, are:

-- Danielle Clapper and Carly Keller, Southeast High School, microbiology, “Microbial DNA Analysis of a Filter System.”

-- Bailee Foster, Greybull High School, biomedical and health sciences, “Investigating the Effects of Chaga Mushroom Extracts on the Development of a Specific Tumor Cell Line.”

-- Arundathai Nair, Laramie High School, biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, “EnLIGHTENed Therapeutics: Engineering Light-Activated Proteins for Optogenetic Applications.”

Two alternates also were selected:

-- Joshua Arulsamy, Laramie High School, robotics and computer sciences, “Click-and-Go: Object Detection Through Alternate Color Spaces and Deep Neural Networks.”

-- Markie Whitney, Newcastle High School, engineering/materials sciences, “Solar Panels: Too Cool!”

More than 200 students representing 36 schools competed during the recent Wyoming State Science Fair. Students in sixth through 12th grade displayed posters featuring their science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) research. Student research covered areas as diverse as robotics, environmental management, behavioral and social science, computational biology and chemistry.

Wyoming students also competed in the junior division. Several students were nominated to compete in the Broadcom MASTERS, the nation’s premier science fair competition for students in grades six through eight. The competition will be held later this year in Washington, D.C.

The junior division nominees for the national competition, listed by school, category and project title, are:

-- Johnpaul Anderson, Wheatland Middle School, biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, “To Chill or Not to Chill.”

-- Shayla Babits, Lander Middle School, physics and astronomy, “Stick or Slip.”

-- Ethan Cearlock, Rocky Mountain Middle School, Cowley, mathematics, “What are the Odds?”

-- Brighton Gould, Classical Conversations Lander Campus, animal science, “How Intelligent is Man’s Best Friend?”

-- Jadea Graves, Wheatland Middle School, engineering/materials sciences, “Moo Poo Project.”

-- Juliann Healey, McCormick Junior High School, Cheyenne, microbiology, “Digging Deep: How Much Do You Know About Your Well Water?”

-- Shelby Hoobler, Meadowlark Elementary School, Cheyenne, earth and environmental sciences, “My Sediments Exactly.”

-- Luke Louderback, Gilchrist Elementary School, Cheyenne, robotics and computer sciences, “Move Over EV3.”

-- Jacey McDaniel, Wheatland Middle School, behavior and social sciences, “Love Thy Stage.Love Thy Self???”

-- Jayden McDaniel, Wheatland Middle School, biomedical and health sciences, “Physiological Response in Everyday Acoustics.”

-- Ally Moller, Pinedale Middle School, chemistry, “Sweltering with Suspicion.”

-- Hadley Paisley, Wheatland Middle School, plant sciences, “Do You Have a Healthy Pulse (Crop)?”

For more information about the Wyoming State Science Fair, email wyostatefair@gmail.com or visit www.uwyo.edu/sciencefair/.