Studying a method to make biodiesel from rice hulls. Finding an efficient way to create an important cancer drug. Searching for a biological cause for a psychological condition.
Those are some hefty topics for any researcher, but it’s even more so when you consider those were the focus of three high school students’ science fair projects at the West Central Regional Science Fair and Senior Research Symposium at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts.
ASMSA held an awards ceremony for the annual science fair and humanities research symposium on Feb. 26. The ceremony was the culmination of many months of research for the students. Each senior ASMSA student is required to complete a Fundamentals in Research Methods (FIRM) project as part of their graduation requirements.
STEM-emphasis students compete in the science fair. Students who choose a humanities emphasis compete in the Senior Research Symposium. Students write a paper and create a poster board on their chosen subject. Both events feature a Junior Academy competition as well in which students make a presentation on their project before judges.
Students compete in various STEM and humanities related categories. Judges selected winners for each category and then selected overall winners from a list of finalists in each completion.
Taryn Imamura of Conway won first place overall in the West Central Regional Science Fair. Samia Ismail of Fort Smith won second place, Mikayla Hammers of Trumann placed third overall, and Mandolin Harris of Benton was fourth in the science fair. The top three finishers qualified for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. The premier international science competition will be held in May in Phoenix, Ariz., this year.
Students who placed first through third place in either the science fair poster competition or the science fair Junior Academy competition are eligible to compete in the Arkansas State Science and Engineering Fair that will be held April 1-2 at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.
Mallory Gates of Hackett and Rachel Murphy of Fayetteville tied for first place overall in the Senior Research Symposium.
Imamura’s project focused on synthesizing biodiesel from rice byproducts in an economic and environmentally friendly way. It is the continuation of four years of research she has conducted in finding a way to use rice hulls left over from rice harvests in the state. She won fourth place overall in the 2015 competition with research on using rice hulls as a surfactant.
Imamura said she had exhausted her research on producing a surfactant from cellulosic materials available in Arkansas farming operations when the federal government announced its interest in finding a way to create hydrocarbon biodiesel from the same kind of materials.
“It took a little adjustment, but it was now taking the surfactant I knew how to produce and finding another use for it,” she said. “Surfactants are used for so many things in our society that people don’t even know about. Now it was just adding one more use to that by making oil that could be used for biofuel.”
Imamura said she felt pretty confident about her project after going through the finalists’ interviews. Adding a bit of anticipation to the announcements during the ceremony was that her roommate — Ismail — was also a finalist.
“We were sitting right next to each other and having to wait for the announcement. I told her ours were the best two that I had been able to hear. We had our hands clenched and she was kind of hitting my arm (while waiting for the announcement),” she said.
Imamura said she just wanted to make it into the top three so that she could go to the international fair.
“I didn’t really care what place I finished. I just really wanted to be able to go to the Phoenix,” she said.
In the Senior Research Symposium, judges awarded a tie to Gates and Murphy. Gates’ research focused on the poetry of Dylan Thomas. Murphy presented a fine arts portfolio that focused on artwork she produced in an on-campus studio during her senior year. This was the first year that students could choose to produce a fine arts portfolio for their FIRM project.
Gates said she chose Thomas as the subject of her research because his poetry had not been classified correctly by anyone yet. She said she has a love for literature and poetry that made choosing a humanities-based project easy.
“Thomas is lesser known that T.S. Eliot or Robert Frost. A lot of his work wasn’t known as much. I kind of wanted to bring him to light,” she said.
Gates had to read every poem Thomas had published as well as pieces by Eliot, Frost and many of his contemporary peers. She said she gained further appreciation for the humanities during her research.
Murphy said she decided to take on the challenge of creating a portfolio because it afforded her the opportunity to work on something she’s most passionate about. Murphy created about 15 pieces of artwork from which she chose about 10 pieces to display during the contest.
“There were a lot of obstacles like what are we supposed to be doing, what precedent do we have, what are our procedures for production,” she said. “We came across those bridges as we got there. The process of being in your own studio and using your time management to do your own things was really good for development in more ways than one.”
She said the theme of her portfolio was home.
“When you try to think of a theme, you just kind of let your mind do the work for you and you draw what you think of. I realized I kept reflecting back on my home life and natural things that awed me,” she said.
West Central Regional Science Fair category winners were:
Animal Science: Julian Ervin of North Little Rock, first place; Yeongjoon Hwang of Jonesboro, second place.
Behavioral Science: Chelsey Vermillion of McCaskill, first place; Emily Pavlovic of Hot Springs, second place; Liane Birmingham of Glenwood, third place; Hayden Henson of Bryant, honorable mention; and Rex Hearn of Bryant, honorable mention.
Cellular and Molecular Biology: Mikayla Hammers of Trumann, first place; and Hannah Carr of Haskell, second place.
Chemistry: Maddie Burke of Little Rock, first place; Leyton Gassaway of Paragould, second place; John Cole of Osceola, honorable mention; and Paul Lee of Gosnell, honorable mention.
Computer Science: Martin Boerwinkle of El Dorado, first place; William Yang of Little Rock, second place; Jacob Bonfanti of Monticello, third place; Hayden Aud of Maumelle, honorable mention; and Joe Sartini of Benton, honorable mention.
Earth Science: Jenifer McClain of Winthrop and Alanah Claybaugh of Mansfield, first place; Tristan Tompkins of Springdale, second place; and Timothy Tignor of Cave City, third place.
Energy and Transportation: Taryn Imamura of Conway, first place; Aaron Hinkle of Earle, second place; and Marissa Penning of Little Rock, third place.
Engineering: Electrical and Mechanical: Andrew Hemund of Jonesboro, first place; Liam Johnson of Pearcy, second place; Canon Reeves of Searcy, third place; and Cole Otwell of Malvern, honorable mention.
Engineering: Materials and Bioengineering: Jacob Dedman of Pine Bluff, first place; Kason Brewington of Conway, second place; Matthew Sij of Springdale, third place; and Marcello Gros of Eureka Springs, honorable mention.
Environmental Science: Mandolin Harris of Benton, first place; Anna Griffiths of Bryant, second place; Monish Shukla of White Hall, third place; and Matthew Cullum of Newark, honorable mention.
Mathematics: Jessica Maruri of Van Buren, first place; Sam Zargari of Smackover, second place; and Calah Mershon of Altus, third place.
Medicine and Health Science: Sasin Payakachat of Little Rock, first place; Darian Doakes of Cabot, second place; Azia Jackson of Forrest City, third place; and Mary Kate Beck of Prescott, honorable mention.
Microbiology: Samia Ismail of Fort Smith, first place; Christopher Heredia of Little Rock, second place; and Brittany Nall of Monticello, third place.
Physics/Astronomy: Paolo Canova of Fayetteville, first place; Nathan Daniell of Arkadelphia, second place; and Parker Krain of Maumelle, third place.
Plant Science: Bonnie Champion of Danville, first place; Samantha Losten of Conway, second place; David Scoles of Vilonia, third place; and Brittany Rash of Jonesboro, honorable mention.
Social Science: Hannah Chipman of Osceola, first place; Michelle Smith of Little Rock, second place; Jasmin Fleuranvil of Mellwood, third place; and Rebecca Bishop of Mayflower, honorable mention.
West Central Regional Junior Academy of Sciences category winners were:
Animal Science: Yeongjoon Hwang of Jonesboro, first place; Julian Ervin of North Little Rock, second place.
Behavioral Science: Emily Pavlovic of Hot Springs, first place; Rex Hearn of Bryant, second place; Liane Birmingham of Glenwood, third place; Nika Nauden of Augusta, honorable mention; and Chelsey Vermillion of McCaskill, honorable mention.
Cellular and Molecular Biology: Mikayla Hammers of Trumann, first place; and Hannah Carr of Haskell, second place.
Chemistry: Paul Lee of Gosnell, first place; Maddie Burke of Little Rock, second place; Charlie Jones of Benton, third place; Leyton Gassaway of Paragould, honorable mention; and John Cole of Osceola, honorable mention.
Computer Science: Jacob Bonfanti of Monticello, first place; William Yang of Little Rock, second place; Martin Boerwinkle of El Dorado, third place; Brock Davis of Hot Springs, honorable mention; Hayden Aud of Maumelle, honorable mention; and Jeremy Parker of Berryville, honorable mention.
Earth Science: Jenifer McClain of Winthrop and Alanah Claybaugh of Mansfield, first place; Tristan Tompkins of Springdale, second place; and Timothy Tignor of Cave City, third place.
Energy and Transportation: Taryn Imamura of Conway, first place; Marissa Penning of Little Rock, second place; and Aaron Hinkle of Earle, third place.
Engineering: Electrical and Mechanical: Canon Reeves of Searcy, first place; Cole Otwell of Malvern, second place; and Andrew Hemund of Jonesboro, third place.
Engineering: Materials and Bioengineering: Jacob Dedman of Pine Bluff, first place; Kason Brewington of Conway, second place; and Matthew Sij of Springdale, third place.
Environmental Science: Mandolin Harris of Benton, first place; Anna Griffiths of Bryant, second place; Monish Shukla of White Hall, third place; and Matthew Cullum of Newark, honorable mention.
Mathematics: Jacob Reed of Sheridan, first place; John Redding of Roland, second place; Jessica Maruri of Van Buren, third place; Sam Zagari of Smackover, honorable mention; and Patrick Nobles of Hackett, honorable mention.
Medicine and Health Science: Darian Doakes of Cabot, first place; Mary Kate Beck of Prescott, second place; Sasin Payakachat of Little Rock, third place; and Austin Dotson of Pottsville, honorable mention.
Microbiology: Samia Ismail of Fort Smith, first place; Christopher Heredia of Little Rock, second place; and Brittany Nall of Monticello, third place.
Physics and Astronomy: Paolo Canova of Fayetteville, first place; Parker Krain of Maumelle, second place; and Nathan Daniell of Arkadelphia, third place.
Plant Science: Bonnie Champion of Danville, first place; Samantha Losten of Conway, second place; Brittany Rash of Jonesboro, third place; and David Scoles of Vilonia, honorable mention.
Social Science: Michelle Smith of Little Rock, first place; Jasmin Fleuranvil of Mellwood, second place; Hannah Chipman of Osceola, third place; and Rebecca Bishop of Mayflower, honorable mention.
Most Aesthetically Pleasing Poster: Michelle Smith of Little Rock.
Several special awards were announced for participants in the West Central Regional Science Fair. Those awards included:
Arkansas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Best Aquatic Sciences Award: Mandolin Harris of Benton, first place; Anna Griffiths of Bryant, Monish Shukla of White Hall, Jenifer McClain of Winthrop and Alanah Claybaugh of Mansfield, honorable mention.
Arizona State University Walton Sustainability Solutions Award: Jacob Dedman of Pine Bluff and Canon Reeves of Searcy.
American Meteorological Society Award: Jenifer McClain of Winthrop and Alanah Claybaugh of Mansfield.
U.S. Metric Association Award for best use of SI units: Matthew Sij of Springdale.
ASM International Foundation Award for most outstanding exhibit in materials science: Kason Brewington of Conway.
NOAA Taking the Pulse of the Planet Award for best project in climate science: Samantha Losten of Conway.
Ricoh Sustainable Development Award: Matthew Cullum of Newark.
Water Environment Federation Stockholm Junior Water Prize for best aquatic science project:Maddie Burke of Little Rock, Canon Reeves of Searcy and Anna Griffiths of Bryant.
Association of Women Geoscientists Best Earth Science Project by a Female Student: Mandolin Harris of Benton.
Yale Science and Engineering Association, Inc. Most Outstanding 11th-grade Exhibit: Martin Boerwinkle of El Dorado.
NASA Earth System Science Award: Tristan Tompkins of Springdale.
U.S. Air Force Award: Chelsey Vermillion of McCaskill, Andrew Hemund of Jonesboro, Hannah Carr of Haskell and Jacob Bonfanti of Monticello.
U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Award: Jacob Dedman of Pine Bluff, Leyton Gassaway of Paragould and Matthew Sij of Springdale.
Senior Research Symposium category winners were:
Arts and Literature: Mallory Gates of Hackett, first place; Courtlynn Collins of Magnolia, second place; Mae Dyer of Texarkana, third place; and Maddy New of Cabot, honorable mention.
History: Kennedy Reynolds of Conway, first place; Maggie Dudgeon of Norfork, second place; and Ashlynn Haller of Magazine, honorable mention.
Social Science: Giselle Barnice of Van Buren, first place; Jaqueline Villalpa-Arroyo of Forrest City, second place; Maggier Collier of Ward, third place; and Paige Sobkoviak of Maumelle, honorable mention.
Fine Arts: Rachel Murphy of Fayetteville, first place; Lauren Shillcutt of Jacksonville, second place; and Christina Osorio of Sherwood, third place.
Most Aesthetically Pleasing Poster: Giselle Barnice of Van Buren.
Senior Research Symposium Junior Academy category winners were:
Arts and Literature: Mallory Gates of Hackett, first place; Courtlynn Collins of Magnolia, second place; Mae Dyer of Texarkana, third place; and Maddy New of Cabot, honorable mention.
History: Kennedy Reynolds of Conway, first place; Ashlynn Haller Magazine, second place; Noah Canu of Hot Springs, third place; and Maggie Dudgeon of Norfork, honorable mention.
Social Science: Maggie Collier of Ward, first place; Bailey Schroeder of Magnolia, second place; Jaqueline Villalpa-Arroyo of Forrest City, third place; and Dustin LaRue of Manila, honorable mention.
To view a photo album from the awards ceremony, visit http://asmsa.me/2016sfsrsawards.