Sixteen Indian River County Students Take Top Honors at the Florida State Science Fair

The Education Foundation of Indian River County is proud to report that twenty students from six public and private schools represented Indian River County at the 53 rd State Science and Engineering Fair of Florida on April 16-18 at the Lakeland Center, Lakeland Florida.

Sixteen of the twenty students representing Indian River County took top honors in the competition that hosted more than 831 students from the State of Florida. The students net five second place, one third place, four fourth place, six honorable mentions and two recognition awards.

Junior Division:

Alissa M. Albrecht of Sebastian River Middle School received second place in the Junior Environmental Sciences Division for her project titled, "Lagoon vs. River - How Does the Water Quality of the Indian River Lagoon Differ from the Water Quality of the Sebastian River?"

Kayla C. Evens of Gifford Middle School of Gifford Middle School received second place in the Junior Chemistry Division for her project titled, "What are the Effects of Ions on Yeast Metabolism?" Kayla also received a special award from Science for America.

Charlotte H. Morse of Gifford Middle School received fourth place in the Junior Biochemistry Division for her project titled, ""How Does Fluoride Affect Mobility of Dugesia Tigrina."

Adriana Olaya-Pineda of Gifford Middle School received fourth place in the Junior Microbiology Division for her project titled, "Selection and Identification of Bacteria and Controlled Fungal Pathogens."

Jeffrey M. Price of Sebastian River Middle School received second place in the Junior Physics Division for his project titled, "Interstellar Magnetic Light Interference: Phase II." Jeffrey also received a special award from NASA.

Lucy A. Sexton of Saint Edward's Middle School received third place in the Botany Junior Division for her project titled, "Sweetin' Your OJ!" She also received a special award from the USDA.

Also representing Indian River County in the Junior Division were Andrew M. Casalino of Gifford Middle School with his project titled, "Tower of Power: Trebuchet Physics", Nicole L. Farrington of Gifford Middle School with her project titled, "Lone Star", Danielle Nowak of Oslo Middle School with her project titled, "What's in Your Water?", Colin D. MacKay of Gifford Middle School with his project titled, "Under Pressure", and Garrett R. Murto of Sebastian River Middle School with his project titled, "No Noise is Good Noise."

Senior Division:

James E. Fichtelman of Vero Beach High School received second place in the Senior Zoology Division for his project titled, "Histopathologic Investigation of Carcinogensis in Planarians Secondary to UV C, B and A Exposure, Year Two."

Kirk J. Henf of Sebastian River High School received special recognition for his Senior Chemistry Division project titled, "The Effects of Increased Gravitational Forces on the Crystallization of the Amino Acid Glycine."

Richard C. Jones of Indian River Charter High School received fourth place in the Senior Zoology Division for his project titled, "Impact of Reduction Mowing on the Ecology of Ants at Gopher Tortoise Burrows."

Samuel I. Kornicks of Vero Beach High School received fourth place in the Senior Mathematics Division for his project titled, "Quantitative Evaluation of Cancer Complexity: A Study of Fractal Morphometry, Year Two."

Jeffrey S. Liguori of Sebastian River High School received honorable mention in the Senior Mathematics Division for his projected titled, "Finding Relation in Nature to the Fibonacci Sequence and the Number Phi."

Taylor M. Lukomski of Sebastian River High School received the EFA and Geological Special Recognition Awards in the Senior Earth and Space Sciences Senior Division for her project titled, "Mesowear Analysis of Pleistocene Ungulates."

Allison MacKay of Vero Beach High School received second place in the Senior Earth and Space Sciences for her projected titled, "Measure Soils' Respiration and Biomas." Allison also received a special award from the Association for Women Geoscientists Foundation.

Diana M. Pechter of Saint Edward's Upper School received second place in the Senior Biochemistry for her project titled, "Isolating Biologically Active Compounds from the Porifera Hexactinellida to Aid in Pancreatic Cancer Therapies: Phase Two."

Also representing Indian River County in the Senior Division was Nicole A. Gagnon of Vero Beach High School with her project titled, "Ginger Remedies."

In 2007-2008 State Science and Engineering Fair Finalists from 67 districts throughout Florid participated in the State Science Fair. More than 11,000 students completed in one of the 37 Florida Regional Science and Engineering Fairs (RSEF). The Senior Section of the State Fair (grades 9-12) hosted 441 finalists and Junior Section of the State Fair (grades 6 - 8) hosted 390. The number of the projects displayed at the 2007-2008 sub-regional events leading up to the affiliated RSEFs exceeded 150,000.

The Education Foundation of Indian River County is the sole administrator of the Indian River Regional Science and Engineering Fair. The program is funded through private donations and grant assistance. Piper Aircraft, Quail Valley Charities, John's Island Community Service League, National City Bank, Syngenta , George E. Warren Corporation, Publix Supermarket Charities, Peace River Citrus underwrote the expenses for the students to compete at the state competition. In addition, Saint Edward's School provided the transportation.

For more information about the Education Foundation of Indian River County visit: www.edfoundationirc.org , email: info@edfoundationirc.org or (772) 564-0034.