Science Research students prepare for WESEF

Each morning and afternoon, between 10 and 20 students set up trifold displays and present on topics including striatal neurons, CAR-T cell therapy and fish biosolids to their peers. Forty minutes later, they are gone. 
 
These are practice sessions for Regeneron WESEF, the Westchester Science & Engineering Fair, held on March 14. Forty Edgemont students are heading to the largest regional high school science fair in America, with over 750 student projects from more than 40 schools and 500 judges. 

“It is such a special time of the year,” said Science Research teacher Talia Dardis. “The students’ hard work, amazing projects and presentations get the full attention they deserve.”

Among the students heading to WESEF are seniors Vasu Jain and Ananya Shah, who were recognized earlier this year as Regeneron Scholars for their research on CRISPR cancer screening and political data analysis.
 
Presentations are a key factor in the WESEF competition. Students deliver seven-minute, formal presentations of their scientific research in a poster forum to professional scientists. It’s also a life skill that each student takes away from the three-year program.
 
Junior Gabriel Hwang had the opportunity to hone his presentation skills through working with his mentor Brian Zeglis, PhD, at Weill Cornell Medical College. “He asked me to present my research on colorectal cancer at regional conferences this summer,” said Gabriel. 
 
Junior Joya Ishak’s enthusiasm for her research area shows in her presentation. 
 
She worked with Teresa V. Bowman, Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Developmental & Molecular Biology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. They used zebrafish in their research of hematopoietic stem cell disorders in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. 
 
“Their embryos are transparent,” she said. “We could see their red blood cells under a microscope! We also share 70% of our DNA with zebrafish.”
 
Junior Ishaan Jain presents positive findings on using a swarm algorithm in ground robots to enhance victim detection in earthquake search and rescue. “This allows for quicker, coordinated work to detect victims,” he said. 
 
All students spoke to how Edgemont prepared them to work at such a high level. 
 
“Edgemont has an amazing science department,” said Gabriel. “Taking chemistry last year with Mr. Scalley really helped me. 
 
Joya highlights the science journals that science research students read in their sophomore year. “They were high level!” she said. “They helped me find an area I was interested in.”

“The math curriculum at Edgemont is rigorous,” said Ishaan. “It prepared me to create simulations using Python and MuJoCo physics.” He also highlights the CAD experience he gained in the robotics club. 
 
“I had a lot of obstacles to overcome,” he said, adding that he had to review hundreds of lines of code. “This showed me I was well prepared for the work.”