The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts won first place overall and one student finished in the top five overall at the 2013 Arkansas Science and Engineering Fair.
ASMSA won the award during the fair held the University of Central Arkansas in Conway on March 29-30. The winning school was determined by dividing the number of points accumulated in individual categories based on the number of individual awards won by the school’s students by the number of entries a school had in the fair.
Other schools that placed in the top five included Little Rock Central, second; Fayetteville High School, third; Alpena High School, fourth; and Pulaski Academy, fifth.
Clay Davis, a senior from Hot Springs, finished fifth overall in the state in individual awards. He finished second overall in the West Central Regional Science Fair, which was held at ASMSA on Feb. 27-March 1.
“The entire community of learning at ASMSA should take pride in this accomplishment,” said Corey Alderdice, the school’s director. “Our students have spent countless hours exploring topics that innovate and inspire.
“Science faculty shared their expertise, mathematics faculty assisted with methodologies, and humanities faculty guided reviews of previous findings and construction of the final report. Recognition at the Arkansas Science and Engineering Fair is the culmination of campus-wide collaboration and ASMSA’s commitment to scientific inquiry.”
Several ASMSA students earned individual category recognition. Those students include:
Animal Science: Wilson Guillory of Eureka Springs, first place;
Behavioral and Social Science: Domonick Esparza of Highland, second place;
Biochemistry: Alex Shell of Benton, second place; Karam Sra of Cherokee Village, honorable mention;
Cellular and Molecular Biology: Mehr Shah of Little Rock, third place;
Computer Science: Larissa Markwardt of Fayetteville, second place; and Russell Bryan of Conway, third place;
Earth and Planetary Science: Taylor Flynn of Hardy, first place;
Engineering: Electrical and Mechanical: Nyle Nayga of Fayetteville, first place;
Mathematics: Guo Wang of Blytheville, second place;
Medicine and Health: Andrew Gu of Little Rock, first place; Dimple Shah of Paragould, second place; and Gareth Stout of Benton, third place;
Microbiology: Hayley Adkisson of Sherwood, first place; and B.J. Osterberger of Harrison, second place;
and Physics and Astronomy: Erik Monson of Hot Springs, first place; and Toni Lunneman of Green Forest, second place.
Several students also received special awards by various organizations. ASMSA students recognized for special awards include:
Sigma Xi, presented by Nawab Alie and Kamran Iqbal for Outstanding Research Project: Andrew Gu;
American Fisheries Society – Arkansas Chapter, Best Aquatic Science Award: Taylor Flynn and Wilson Guillory, honorable mentions;
Arkansas Computer Science Teachers Association Award, top two computer science projects: Larissa Markwardt, second place;
Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, projects related to preserving Arkansas’ natural heritage: Taylor Flynn;
Arkansas Chapter of the Wildlife Society, best project related to wildlife or wildlife conservation: Wilson Guillory;
Association for Women Geoscientists Foundation, best project related to geoscience done by a female student: Taylor Flynn;
Society for Neuroscience-Arkansas Chapter: Project related to Neuroscience: Dimple Shah;
U.S. Geological Survey, best geology related project: Taylor Flynn;
U.S. Air Force Award, Engineering: Nyle Nayga;
U.S. Air Force Award, Physics: Erik Monson;
O.M. Prince Award presented by the UCA Physics Department, most outstanding physics project: Erik Monson;
and U.S. Public Health Services, Surgeon General’s Certificate of Appreciation: Andrew Gu.
Photo: Clay Davis of Hot Springs won fifth place overall in the invididual categories at the Arkansas Science and Engineering Fair recently held at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.