A talented three member research team consisting of Huntington High School senior Rachel Roday and sophomores Nathan Gamboa and Kolby Rappel captured third place honors in the Long Island Science & Engineering Fair’s junior varsity division during a recent competition at Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury.
The trio presented their project to judges over two rounds of competition. “The Effect of Varied Contrast Backgrounds on the Spectral Discrimination and Camouflaging Abilities in S. officinalis” vied in the behavioral science category, which included a dozen projects. The JV fair drew about 150 entries overall.
The teenagers were guided during their research by high school science teachers Lori Kenny and Gina Carone and by a staff member at the Long Island Aquarium & Exhibition Center in Riverhead where they engaged in their experimental studies.
“I was really excited when the announcer mentioned Huntington for third place,” Ms. Roday said. “As she read our names one by one, I was shocked that we had even placed. It was really gratifying to know that our countless hours of research, analysis and typing had paid off. The three of us worked extremely hard and I can confidently say that this is the best research project I’ve conducted in my four years in the research program. We still have a lot more to do before our next competition, but with the suggestions from our judges, Mrs. Kenny and Mrs. Carone and our mentor Rachael Vietheer, we are ready to bring this project to the next level and aim for a higher award at the New York State Science and Engineering Fair.”
Many of Long Island’s leading high school students participated in this year’s competition. “The Charles Duggan Long Island Science and Engineering Fair is a competition for the most advanced high school projects,” according to the LISEF website. “The participants in this fair have a chance to present to professionals in their subject areas from local universities, scientific institutions and professionals in the field.”
“The judges at LISEF asked us challenging questions, which we were excited to answer and they offered great advice,” Ms. Roday said. “Considering our judges were the only people we’ve presented to as a team, I thought we performed spectacularly and we were able to speak with confidence despite having little practice. I am really excited to see how we do at NYSEF and look forward to finishing my senior year in science research with this strong experiment.”
The Huntington team of three will vie in the New York State Science and Engineering Fair at Plainview-Old Bethpage Middle School on April 24.
“Hearing our names called and finding out we placed was amazing,” Mr. Rappel said. “I can’t wait to improve our project even more and compete at NYSSEF in a few weeks. My partners have been amazing and I wouldn’t ask for it any other way.”
Huntington students have a long tradition of participating in the LISEF and through the years have won numerous honors in every contest category.
“After countless hours of hard work it was very gratifying to hear that we had placed at LISEF,” Mr. Gamboa said. “NYSSEF is going to be a hard competition with many extraordinary projects. I can’t wait to continue improving our project for the competition. This was a very rewarding project and I couldn’t have asked for better partners.”
