By Paul Plato
On March 22 and 23, AHS, in cooperation with the Central Arizona Project, reviewed and presented awards to deserving hydrologic and water projects at the annual Arizona Science and Engineering Fair. This marks the 16th straight year that AHS and CAP have teamed up to award prizes at the AzSEF fair, and AHS would like to thank Robert Frank of CH2MHill and Derek McGregor of Freeport-McMoRan, who helped judge projects at this years’ event. The amount of prize money was $700, to be awarded to deserving projects in the senior, junior and elementary divisions. AzSEF is a winner’s fair, so participants must win at the local level to compete statewide. The number of projects this year was slightly smaller than in previous years, but the fair was a major success, as always.
Congratulations to all the winners this year; the projects were very inspiring. And congratulations to all the aspiring scientists who I talked with this year — it was, as always, a rewarding and fun experience.
Senior Division
$200 1st Place: Maya Baker, for S-EAEV-018: The Hypothetical Hydrologic Impact of the Invasive Giant Reed, Arundi Donax, on the Sabino and Bear Canyon Watersheds. Ms. Baker’s project involved estimating the evapotranspiration rates for the invasive Arundi Donax, a giant reed from Southeast Asia. Her project focused on the Sabino and Bear Canyon area near Tucson, a widely visited recreation area. Removal of Arundi Donax is ongoing.
$50 2nd Place: Kailee Pirch, Rebekah Rice, and Reilly Smith for S-EAEV-001: Nature’s Water Quality. Their project involved evaluating various water sources in the Horton Creek drainage near Payson. They collected samples and evaluated water quality along the creek above the confluence with Tonto Creek.
$50 2nd Place: Denien Lewis, for S-EAEV-002: Analysis on Water Quality from Western Arizona Using Gas Chromatography / Mass Spectrometry. Her project involved an evaluation of water sources near Tuba City and Moenkopi, on the Navajo Nation.
$50 2nd Place: Hailey Kollenborn, for S-EAEV-016: The Effects of Solar Ultraviolet Rays on Bacteria Colonies in Contaminated Water. Her project involved an evaluation of the impact of solar ultraviolet on reducing e coli bacterial colonies.
Junior Division
$100 1st Place: Carolyn Brown, for J-EV-007: The Perfect Mix. Ms. Brown’s project involved an assessment of water retention properties of various soil mixtures.
$50 2nd Place: Zahra Alam, for J-EV-015: Microalgae: A Green Method for Removing Lead from Drinking Water. Her project involved an evaluation of the utility of using algae as a method of removing lead contamination from drinking water sources.
Elementary Division
$150 1st Place: Sriya Vedartham and Hetal Nath, for E-EV-010: What’s in Your Water? This project involved evaluating water quality in the north Scottsdale area using their own homemade water-quality sensors.
$50 2nd Place: Jackson Vernon, for E-EV-027: Think Before You Drink. His project involved looking at the water quality from his school drinking fountain and at other schools in the Tucson area.
