The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts recognized the winners of the 2024 West Central Regional Science Fair during an awards ceremony held on Feb. 23 in the Creativity and Innovation Complex on campus.
Aarohi Sonputri, a senior from Little Rock, won first overall for her project in the Cellular and Molecular Biology category. Nasya Choy, a senior from Conway, won second place for her Chemistry category project. Michelle Lin, a senior from Little Rock, took third place for her project in the Environmental Management category.
The three overall winners were awarded a trip to participate in the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair to be held May 11-17 in Los Angeles, Calif. The event is the world’s largest pre-college STEM competition. More than 1,600 high school students from around the world are expected to compete for more than $9 million in awards, prizes and scholarships.
Individual awards were also announced in various category. The top three projects and some high-placing honorable mentions in each category earned entry into the Arkansas State Science and Engineering Fair that will be held at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway on March 29-30.
Individual category winners included:
Animal Science: 1. Team of Kolten Shook of North Little Rock and Lukas Bowler of Hot Springs 2. Melanie Holmes of Atkins 3. Reagan Smith of Marion Honorable Mention: Team of Evan Fowlkes of Mountain View and Kendra Grant of Bismarck, Team of Lily Blalock of Pottsville and Nhi Le of Little Rock
Behavioral and Social Science: 1. Jezabelle Lowry of Conway 2. Chiking Vang of Lincoln 3. Destiny Tate of Melbourne Honorable Mention: Grace Adams of Lamar
Cellular and Molecular Biology: 1. Aarohi Sonputri of Little Rock 2. Carmella Lewis of Alma 3. Hannah Taylor of Jonesboro
Chemistry: 1. Nasya Choy of Conway 2. Kalyn You of Everton 3. Annalise Stanford of Paris Honorable Mention: Eli Miller of Drasco and Remington Frisbee of Benton
Computer Science: 1. James Mathis of Russellville 2. Brent Orlina of Little Rock 3. Jack Smith of Jacksonville Honorable Mention: Timothy Palmer of Mena
Systems Software: 1. Parker Hance of Conway 2. Daniel Nkunga of Sherwood 3. Carter Horton of North Little Rock
Earth Science: 1. Marko Hales of Greenbrier Honorable Mention: Tre Quaid of Bigelow
Engineering, Electrical and Mechanical: 1. Melike Senlicki of Fayetteville 2. Alexander Thomas of Hot Springs 3. Mae Whisenhunt of Foreman Honorable Mention: Kaidence Nunley of Jacksonville and Eli Goodrich of Conway
Engineering, Materials and Bioengineering: 1. Ivy Hong of North Little Rock 2. Geoff Williams of Jacksonville 3. Gavin Chen of Benton Honorable Mention: Devin Qualls of Russellville
Environmental Management: 1. Michelle Lin of Little Rock 2. Team of Finneas Salazar of Searcy and Ezekiel Summers of Paragould
Environmental Science: 1. Team of Samantha Pruitt of North Little Rock and Anna Grace Wright of Pottsville Honorable Mention: Kira Burnett of Mountainburg and Andrew Le of Fort Smith
Math: 1. Jimi Frazier of Hot Springs 2. Gabriel Johnson of Little Rock 3. Shane Driver of Helena-West Helena Honorable Mention: Dang Do of Hot Springs
Medicine and Health Sciences: 1. Team of Kate Rose of West Helena and Michaela Stevens of Hot Springs 2. Gisselle Ellington of North Little Rock 3. May Barnett of Perryville
Microbiology: 1. Christine Dunning of Clarksville 2. Team of Christian Lu of Jonesboro and Jameil Modica of Blytheville
Physics/Astronomy: 1. Tyler Aiello of Conway 2. Michael Schranz of Longmeadow 3. Andrew Nguyen of Sherwood Honorable Mention: Bryce Snider of Hoxie
Plant Science: 1. Alice Dong of Arkadelphia 2. Team of Daymond Franklin of Lexa and Haven Herring of Benton
Several special awards and recognition were also announced during the awards ceremony. They include:
Regeneron Science Talent Search Recognition: Aarohi Sonputri of Little Rock, Scholar Entrants: Michelle Lin of Little Rock, Nasya Choy of Conway and Gisselle Ellington of North Little Rock
Soybean Science Challenge award that recognizes a student for their project as well as their project adviser for an outstanding project in soybean science or agriculture: Alice Dong of Arkadelphia, advised by Dr. Lindsey Waddell
Missouri University of Science and Technology Kummer Center for STEM Education for outstanding junior research students: Kira Burnett of Mountainburg and Christine Dunning of Clarksville
Trinity Environmental Consultants award recognizes a project that best develops a solution for an environmental problem with preference given to an outstanding junior: Team of Kolten Shook of North Little Rock and Lukas Bowler of Hot Springs
Winthrop Rockefeller Cancer Center Award for an outstanding project in cancer research: Winner: Aarohi Sonputri of Little Rock Runner-up Gisselle Ellington of North Little Rock
Eddie Reed Award for best biomedical research project by an underrepresented student: Team of Christian Lu of Jonesboro and Jameil Modica of Blytheville
Association of Women Geoscientists for outstanding geoscience project by female or non-binary student(s): Marko Hales of Greenbrier
NASA Earth Systems Award for outstanding earth science project: Marko Hales of Greenbrier
NOAA Taking the Pulse of the Planet Award for project that emphasizes science, service and stewardship in addressing issues related to climate, weather, oceans and coasts: Marko Hales of Greenbrier
Ricoh USA, Inc. award: Team of Samantha Pruitt of North Little Rock and Anna Grace Wright of Pottsville
Society for In-vitro Biology award for outstanding 11th-grad life science project: Carmella Lewis of Alma
United States Air Force award: Ivy Hong of North Little Rock, Tyler Aiello of Conway and the team of Kate Rose of West Helena and Michaela Stevens of Hot Springs
U.S. Agency for International Development award for an outstanding project that addresses a salient international development issue: Melike Senlicki of Fayetteville
Yale Science and Engineering Association award for best 11th-grade exhibit in computer science, physics, chemistry or engineering: Kalyn You of Everton
Regeneron Biomedical Science Award for outstanding project in translational medical science, microbiology or medical science: Aarohi Sonptutri of Little Rock