Six Monterey County Students Take Honors at California State Science Fair

Rohan Bushan and Paul Kunz, 7th graders at the International School of Monterey; Ailis Dooner, a sophomore at Carmel High School; siblings Aradhana and Kapil Sinha, a senior and freshman at Salinas High School respectively; and Montana Sprague, an 8th grader at York School; shone with their projects at the 62nd annual California State Science Fair last week in Los Angeles. Over 1000 participants from 413 schools throughout California competed for top honors.

Bushan and Kunz took third place in the junior division, general microbiology, for their project “Nitrate: A Threat to Plankton.” Their lab research was conducted at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and they examined how nitrate in water sources affect aquatic microorganisms such as plankton.

 Dooner received honorable mention in the senior division, pharmacology/toxicology for her project “Targeting Lung Mutagenesis.” Ailis used laboratory equipment under supervision at University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

The Super Sinha Siblings took third place in the senior division, plant biology for their project “Evaluating Peronospora Presence in Salinas Valley & Analyzing DNA Similarity in Downy Mildew Pathogens Affecting Spinach." They discovered downy mildew is infecting Salinas Valley spinach and spreading by contaminated seed. They developed a way to identify the lethal pathogen, and proposed more effective seed screening methods to prevent further spread of Peronospora.

Sprague took second place in the junior division, zoology, for her project, “Can Fish Get Jet-Lagged?” She investigated the effects of circadian rhythm disruptions on the training and memory of common goldfish.

These students earned the opportunity to participate in the California State Science Fair by finishing first in their division and category at the Monterey County Science & Engineering Fair, sponsored by the Monterey County Office of Education, CSUMB, the Naval Postgraduate School, and many community partners, March 8-10, 2013. A total of 23 projects from Monterey County participated at the State Science Fair.

Dooner, and the Super Sinha Siblings will represent Monterey County at the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona, May 12-17.