Can algae be a source of biodiesel? This challenging question and others turn heads at the Regional Science Fair.

 

March 20, 2012

For the second consecutive year, students from The Governor’s School @ Innovation Park captured the Senior Division Grand Prize and multiple certificates at the Prince William County-Manassas Regional Science Fair. Mitchell Gillin and McKenzie Krochmalny, who also attend Battlefield High School, and Madeleine Guyant, also a student at Forest Park High School, comprise the Governor's School team that won top honors for its environmental science project, “Algae: A Blooming Fuel Source.” The project displays an impressive grasp of science and keeps the spotlight on the higher-level science education students receive at The Governor’s School @ Innovation Park. The team will now compete in the International Science and Engineering Fair in May.

 

“Their project relates to determining which taxonomic category of algae might give the highest yield as a source of biodiesel,” explains Karen Dalfrey, director of The Governor’s School @ Innovation Park. The team conducted their experimental research under the guidance of Jenny England and Elizabeth Romano, both of whom are faculty members at The Governor’s School @ Innovation Park.

 

The first place winners in the middle division are Sydney Fullerton, from Lake Ridge Middle School, in medicine and health; Potomac Middle School teammates Sana Mahmood and Fatimah Khalid, microbiology; Parkside Middle School’s Tuyet-Minh Tran, physics and astronomy category; and the team of Elena High and Kelly Isbell, Reagan Middle School, plant sciences. From Marsteller Middle School, Hiranya Kamdar, computer science; Rippon Middle School, Lewis Bass, engineering; and Gainesville Middle School students Aliyah Desautels, environmental sciences and Jarrett Starr, mathematics. Pennington Traditional School students winning first place are Natasha Narayanan, animal sciences, and Mikhail Lujan in the biochemistry category.

 

Senior division first place winners from grades 9–12 include Governor’s School @ Innovation Park students Zachary Chapman (Battlefield High School) and teammate Chandler King (Osbourn Park High School) in biochemistry; Alexander Reynolds in the engineering category; the team of Shreya Raman (Osbourn High School), Jason Zhang (Osbourn Park High School), and Oivia Carros (Manassas Park High School) in medicine and health. Battlefield student Yafeng Tian, won in the behavioral science category, and his school mate Nicholas Shablom won in microbiology. The Freedom High School team of William Thomas and Katharine Downey won the plant sciences category.

 

In all, Prince William County Public Schools brought home 17 first place awards. A list of the senior division and middle school division winners is attached.

Aerojet Corporation donated $5,000 to the PWCS Science Office to support the Regional Science Fair.