Daily Sitka Sentinel

Local High School Students Take Science Studies to the Fair

By Sentinel Staff
    Scott Harris, coordinator of the Science Mentor Program for Sitka High School, says one of the most crucial skills for scientists is being able to explain their work to others.

Sitka High and Mt. Edgecumbe High School who recently traveled to Anchorage to present the results of their ecological research studies at the Alaska Science and Engineering Fair pose with science mentors, Kitty LaBounty and Scott Harris. Pictured are, from left, LaBounty, Korbin Storms, Misha Bekeris, Jeffrey Moore, Anthony Lekanof, Shanelle Afcan, Terrell Jones, Savvas Matiatos and Harris. (Photo provided)

    Those skills were put to the test for five Mt. Edgecumbe and two Sitka High students at the 59th Annual Alaska Science & Engineering Fair, March 21-23 at East Anchorage High School.
    During the fair the seven kids – Misha Bekeris and Savvas Matiatos of Sitka High, and Korbin Storms, Jeffrey Moore, Shanelle Afcan, Anthony Lekanof and Terrell Jones of MEHS – presented the results of their ecological research studies to a mixed panel that included teachers, university professors, researchers and scientists from industry and the U.S. Navy. They also answered questions about their exhibit from students and other visitors at the fair.
    The two Sitka kids were participants in the SHS Science Mentor Program, coordinated by Harris through the Sitka Conservation Society; the Mt. Edgecumbe kids were students of Kitty LaBounty, assistant professor of biology at the University of Alaska Southeast who teaches the Research Methods class to Mt. Edgecumbe students at UAS.
    Both LaBounty and Harris accompanied the seven kids to Anchorage.
    The students’ six projects were among 400 at the fair, which drew students in grades K-12 from around the state. Harris said the kids were put through their paces while standing beside the displays describing the projects and answering questions. He said it’s good practice for being an actual scientist.
    “One of the important parts of being a scientist is being able to communicate about your work,” said Harris, conservation science director for the Sitka Conservation Society. “They practiced communicating a lot – they had a lot of people visit and ask questions: students, judges, university professors. By doing that, they got a better understanding of their own work, especially the limitations of their own work.”
    Harris said the public can see the MEHS and SHS students’ research at the Third Annual Sitka Student Science Sharing Night 7 p.m. April 28 at the UAS.
    One of the Sitka High students, Misha Bekeris, won the top prize in the environmental science category, and was one of four finalists for the grand prize. Category winners were invited to present their exhibit – a poster explaining the project – to a panel of 20 judges, who picked the top two to represent Alaska at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles in May.
    Misha was not one of the top two, Harris said, but he so impressed the judges that he was invited to attend the L.A. fair as an “official observer,” with his expenses covered.
    Misha’s award-winning project was “Changes in Nutrient Fluxes during Salmon Activity in Indian River.” For his research, he collaborated with Dr. Bernhard Peucker-Ehrenbrink of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. Peucker-Ehrenbrink became involved with Sitka High’s Science Mentor Program after serving as a scientist-in-residence fellow with the Sitka Sound Science Center in 2012.
    Harris said Misha used data collected by Peucker-Ehrenbrink from Indian River on the water’s chemistry, before the salmon arrived to spawn. Misha finished the data collection, and analyzed the changes in the river’s chemistry that occurred after the salmon arrived.
    Harris said the project involved “quite a bit of chemistry” – a class the SHS sophomore has not yet taken – and a lot of math.
    “His research will help us better understand the dynamics of how the marine (environment) is connected to the forest,” Harris said.
    Misha said today that he enjoyed sharing his research with people who stopped by to talk to him, and ask questions about his projects.
    “You don’t think of people getting really excited about it,” he said. “A lot of people were interested in my topic. There were a lot of things I hadn’t thought of.”
    Misha said he was able to incorporate some people’s ideas from the fair into his presentation before the judges.
    “After the fair, I got ideas for improving and enhancing it in many different ways,” he said.
    Misha was one of two SHS students who participated last semester in the Science Mentor Program through Sitka High. The other, Savvas Matiatos, also took part in the Anchorage science fair with his study “Non-Invasive Genetic Sex Identification Markers on Sitka Black-tailed Deer.”
    Savvas worked on his study with Jon Martin, assistant professor of biology at the UAS, Sitka Campus.
     “The work Savvas is doing may be used by biologists interested in studying the dynamics of deer populations on Kruzof, Baranof, and Chichagof islands,” said Martin in an announcement about the science fair. “His contribution has a very practical application.”
    The kids from Mt. Edgecumbe High School who presented their work at the fair were in LaBounty’s research methods class at UAS. She issued a statement after the fair:
    “The competition adds an element of excitement, but the real benefit of the fair is learning to communicate scientific research. In preparing the posters and their ‘elevator’ speeches the students learn a lot about their projects and about how to share information with both professional and lay audiences. Folks asked them great questions about their research (which) encouraged them to think more deeply about the material.”
    The MEHS studies were “Microsatellite Analysis of Golden Chanterelles” (Korbin Storms, Unalakleet); “Forest Management and Soil Insects” (Jeffrey Moore, Dutch Harbor); “Importance of Natural Cloning in Yellow Cedar Stands” (Shanelle Afcan, Marshall); and “How Clear Cutting Forests Affect Fungal Microbiota” (Anthony Lekanof, Saint George Island, and Terrell Jones, Deering).
    Harris was named Most Outstanding Science Educator at the fair, the same honor given to LaBounty a few years ago.
    Harris said the SHS and MEHS programs took different approaches to conducting research, and both yielded impressive results.
    “The Mt. Edgecumbe and Sitka High programs are both innovative efforts to give students opportunities to work with professional scientists and land managers,” Harris said. “Students get a glimpse into these types of careers and study issues that are really important to the stewardship of our environment.”
    Harris and LaBounty thanked the organizations that sponsored their students’ participation at the science fair, including University of Alaska Southeast, Sitka Conservation Society, the Sitka Charitable Trust, the National Forest Foundation, the Secure Rural Schools Act, the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Alaska BioPrep.