Mt. Hope High School Recognizes Science Fair Winners

BRISTOL — Superintendent Ana C. Riley and Principal Michelle King wish to recognize the winners of Mt. Hope High School’s science fair. 

A total of 130 projects were displayed at the fair, which was held on Tuesday, Jan. 31. 

The top ten project winners will advance to the Rhode Island Science and Engineering Fair on March 18 and March 19 at the Community College of Rhode Island in Warwick.

“I was amazed at the amount of effort and thought put into each and every one of the projects displayed at the fair,” Principal King said. “All of our participants should be very proud of their work, and I am excited to see many of the students advance to the state fair.”

The top ten projects were: 

1. Emma Torres and Gwenyth Tucker: “Lets Subside the Red Tide: ‘Characterization of Local Spermothamnion repens from Easton’s Beach'”
2. Arden Wilkes and Bridget William: “Fuel of the Future”
3. Joe Ricci: “Engineering an Inexpensive, Readily Available CO2 Incubator”
4. Jessica Deal and Ryan Coffey: “Hands-Free Feeding for Pets”
5. Fiona Sharp and Zachary Guyette: “How to build an Eco-friendly portable Hydropower model”
6. Dominic Pachuto: “Let’s be Drastic; Cut the Plastic: The effects of geographic location on the size of microplastics in beach sand”
7. Aidan Enjeti: “Airfoil Efficiency Lab”
8. Liam Reich: “Evaluation of PCMs in Concrete as an alternative to Road Salt”
9. Micah Matheson – “Heavy Metal Plants”
10. Declan Reed and Will Goodnow: “Aerodynamic Effects on a Vehicle Shape”

Torres’s and Tucker’s project, which placed first, focuses on investigating the isolation of biochemicals and polysaccharides in red seaweed from Easton’s Beach. Working with a mentor at Roger Williams University, the polysaccharide was isolated and will be investigated further for its inhibitory effects on cancer cells in rats.  

The Principal’s award was given to Jessica Deal and Ryan Coffey for their project, “Hands-Free Feeding for Pets.” Deal and Coffey built and designed a product to deliver pet food to animals based on their size. Principal King chose the project for its originality, relevance to pet health and real-world application. 

Other projects that were recognized were: 

• Lauren Rodrigues: “Filter the Waves: The Effects of Filters on Waters”
• Isabella Pinheiro: “How Does Salinity Affect Plant Growth?”
• Ashley and Hannah Paul: “Are synthetic or natural disinfectants more effective in killing Bacillus Subtilis, Serratia Marcescens, and Escherichia Coli?”
• Morgan Clark: “The Effects of Herbicides on the Growth of Grass, Organic vs. Commercial?”
• Saxon Alves: “How Do Gram Positive and Gram Negative Bacteria Respond To Common Antibiotics?”
• Maria Lacey and Kali Rocha: “Your Backyard Ally: The Natural Herbicide”
• Megan Harley and Abby Bratsos: “To Glo or not to Glo: Comparing Transmission Efficiency Between GFP plasmids in E. coli Colonies”
• Nathanael Bagg and Finn Pansa: “Fighting a Silent Killer: How Different Conditions Affect the Growth of Mold”
• Brayden Pimental: “Root Systems: Nature’s Water Filter”
• William Southworth: “Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning”

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