Seventeen members of Irvington High School’s Science Research program earned awards at the prestigious Westchester Science & Engineering Fair (WESEF), held virtually. The fair featured 564 students from 42 schools across Putnam and Westchester counties.
“We are extremely proud and impressed with all our students,” said Nadia Parikka, who co-advises the program along with fellow teachers Amy Ma and Stephanie Schilling.
“This is the first year that every student from Irvington who competed won an award,” Schilling said. “This truly speaks to their hard work and determination, especially in such a challenging year.”
Congratulations to the following students on earning WESEF awards for “Best in Category”:
· Brooke Dunefsky – first place in Engineering.
· Katharine McLaughlin – first place in Plant Sciences.
· Isabella Berger – second place in Animal Science.
· Allison Lyubomirskaya – second place in Plant Sciences.
· Pearl Chalsen – second place in Medicine and Health.
· Lara Greene – third place in Behavioral and Social Sciences.
· Camryn Scott – third place in Medicine and Health.
· Reinesse Wong – third place in Plant Sciences.
· Eesha Thaker – fourth place in Computer Science.
· Esha Shenoy – fourth place in Medicine and Health.
· Alex Bjorgvinsson – fourth place in Physics and Astronomy.
Congratulations to the following students on earning specialty awards:
· Aviv Markus – American Meteorological Society Award and Stockholm Junior Water Prize for Environmental Science.
· Henry Demarest – Mu Alpha Theta Award for Computer Science.
· Reinesse Wong – Society for In Vitro Biology Award for Plant Sciences.
· Brooke Dunefsky – Yale Science and Engineering Association Award for Engineering.
· Emelyn Juenger – Innovations in Biological Sciences Research Award for Neuroscience.
· Madeline Monness – Excellence in Medical Research Award for Medicine and Health.
· Anshuman Das – Expanding Knowledge in Science Award for Neuroscience.
· Katharine McLaughlin – Office of Naval Research for Plant Sciences.
· Isabella Berger – Teatown Young Environmentalist Award for Animal Science.
· Sofia Perrone – Teatown Young Environmentalist Award for Environmental Science.
In addition, Dunefsky earned a Grand Prize in Engineering for her project. She was one of 15 students whose projects were selected to participate in the virtual GENIUS Olympiad, an international competition at Rochester Institute of Technology. At the GENIUS Olympiad, WESEF students typically compete against 1,200 students from 75 countries and 39 states.
Also earning a Grand Prize in the competition was Demarest, who was named as a Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) finalist. He was one of the top 20 overall scoring students whose projects were selected to compete in the virtual Regeneron International Science & Engineering Fair from May 3-6. He will compete against more than 1,800 students from more than 75 countries.
