CRMC rewards RI students for science fair projects

April 13, 2017, WAKEFIELD –The RI Coastal Resources Management Council has awarded gift cards to seven Rhode Island junior, middle and high school students for their winning projects in the 2017 Rhode Island Science and Engineering Fair.

This year’s science and engineering fair took place on March 18 at the Community College of Rhode Island’s Knight Campus in Warwick, and showcased engineering, science and environmental projects from 36 schools and 227 students from grades 6 through 12. This year students showed a total of 201 projects, and the CRMC awarded VISA gift cards for projects including creating a wave turbine; ocean acidification; analyzing the importance of preserving coastal wetlands; ocean and water quality projects; effects of rainfall; and evaluations of fertilizer and microbeads.

The seven students were winners of the individual science fairs at their schools; teachers are allowed to send as many as 15 winners per school. The CRMC awarded prizes in the special awards category, which allows organizations and groups to set their own criteria and choose their own winners.

In the Senior Division, for students in grades 9-12, the first place prize of a $100 gift card from the CRMC was awarded to junior Meg O’Brien of Mount Hope High School for her project, “Creating a Wave Turbine to Harness Usable Energy,” a project she has been working on for a number of years. Sabrina Peltier, also a junior, of Coventry High School was awarded the second place prize of a $50 gift card for her project, “Ocean Acidification: A Risky Shell Game.” Third place and a $15 iTunes gift cards went to the team of Christina Curren and Claire Martel, both sophomores at Barrington High School, for their project, “The Marsh Movement: Analyzing the Importance of Preserving Salt Water Wetlands.” The team of Maura Brennan and Caroline Parente, both freshman at South Kingstown High School, received Honorable Mention for their project, “Degrading Oil, Degrading Oceans,” which examined the impacts and clean-up of oil spills.

The CRMC also awarded three gift cards in the Junior Division for students in grades 6-8. The winner of the first place $100 gift card was Greta Redleaf, an eighth grader at St. Mary Academy Bay View Middle School for her project, “Microbeads: Mega Problem,” which examined the environmental impacts of the small plastic beads that are found in consumable products, and efforts to clean them out of oceans, where they often end up. A second place gift card for $50 went to Emily Kiely, also an eighth grader at St. Mary Academy Bay View Middle School, for her project, “Westport River Water Quality.” Danish Ghumman, an eighth grader at the Islamic School of Rhode Island, received third place and a $25 gift card for the project, “Is Fertilizer Deadly?” which measured amounts of phosphorous and nitrogen from different fertilizers. Alexander Geiser, an eighth grader at St. Luke’s School, received an Honorable Mention for his project, “Effect of Rainfall on Allin’s Cove.”

The Council has been giving out special awards for the science fair for more than 15 years. This is the 69th year of the science fair. Special awards were established as a way for local businesses and organizations to promote what they do and get students interested in science and engineering-related research. The top two winners of the Rhode Island fair’s general awards category will go on to compete in the international science fair later this year.