19 W-L Student Scientists Awarded at VJAS

Washington-Lee HS student scientists had another successful year at the Virginia Junior Academy of Science (VJAS) Competition at Virginia Commonwealth University. Seventy-eight papers from 90 students were presented at this very competitive statewide science fair event. Of the 78 papers, 19 students were awarded places. Skylar Brodowski and Nicola McHugh were awarded 1st place awards, while Caroline Cunningham received two extremely special awards.

Skylar Brodowski (Environmental Science A)- 1st place (Invited to present her Paper to the Senior VAS section. Project: Long-term and Short-term Effects of NASA Rocket Launches on Groundwater Contamination Around Virginia’s Eastern Shore 

Nicola McHugh (Psychology)- 1st place (Invited to Present her Paper to the Senior VAS Section) Project: The Effect of Culture on Cell Phone Dependence–A Comparison of American and Chinese Female Students 

Caroline Cunningham (Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science)- 2nd place / Statistics Best Paper Award  /  Smith Shadomy Infectious Disease Award Project: The Effect of One Section of the Influenza Vaccine’s Accuracy on the Overall Vaccine Effectiveness 

Sylvain Chassagneux (Physics A)- 2nd place Project: The Effects of Wood Type and Screw Width on the Torque of Screw 

Io Kovach (Psychology)- 2nd place Project: Words Matter, The Effect of Political Status on Speaking Style in Women 

Maya Elby. & Mikayla Jones-Vincent (Chemistry)- 2nd place Project: The Effect of Non-Chemiluminescent Forensic Blood Tests on Substances known to Render a False Positive Result

Evan Maly (Environmental Science C)- 3rd place Project: The Effect of the Structure of Orthorhombic Bravais Lattices on its Stability 

Sydney Rood (Environmental Science D)- 3rd place Project: The Effect of Different Coastal Plants on Soil Erosion in the Chesapeake Bay 

Jaya Kambhampaty (Engineering)- Honorable Mention Project: The Effect of Compartmentalization on the Lifting Power of an Asymmetric Capacitor

Sabrina Shuster (Environmental Science D)- Honorable Mention Project: The Effect of Land Use on Water Quality

Julia Billera (Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science)- Honorable Mention Project: The Effect of Aspect Ratio of Ellipsoids on Packing Density in Random Arrangements

Shaelyn Dempsey (Medicine and Health)- Honorable Mention Project: The Effect of Different Antibiotics on a Benign Strain of E. coli

Alexander Gallin (Physics A)- Honorable Mention Project: The Effect of Ferrofluid on the Static Friction Coefficient 

Sarah Russell-Hunter (Physics B)- Honorable Mention Project: The Effect of Violin String Core on Stability of Pitch

Kelton Williams (Physics B)- Honorable Mention Project: The Future Of Transportation: Quantum Locking 

Lindsey Gradowski & Atti Rattelman (Psychology)- Honorable Mention Project: The Effect of Time Elapsed on the Ability to Recall Human Characteristics 

Dakota Klapper (Psychology)- Honorable Mention Project: Effect of After School Activity Participation on GPA