High School Students Awarded Scholarships in UM–Hosted

March 2009

Miss. Regional Junior Science and Humanities Symposium

Oxford, Miss. –– For seven Mississippi high school students, the 38th annual Mississippi Regional Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) offered more than a weekend of academic competition–it also awarded scholarships from the University of Mississippi and the Army, Air Force, and Navy.

Students gave research presentations in an area of their choice, stayed at the newly–renovated Inn at Ole Miss, and attended a keynote address by Professor Christopher McCurdy, an accomplished researcher in medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutical sciences at Ole Miss. Twenty students participated in the symposium, seven of whom presented projects to judges.

The top two winners will go on to compete in the National JSHS in Colorado Springs, Colo. on April, 29. The 3rd, 4th, and 5th place recipients were also invited to attend the event. There are 48 regional JSHS Symposiums held nationwide, and 240 students compete at the national level.

“JSHS seeks to encourage high school students to engage in original scientific research by creating incentives through scholarship and a platform from which they may share their research findings,” Brian Starling, Mississippi JSHS Regional Director. “It is amazing to see the creative and intelligent work of Mississippi high school students on display at JSHS.”

All students’ presentations were judged by UM faculty members including: Debra Young, associate dean of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College; Stacy Holmes, professor emeritus in electrical engineering; and Paulo Carvahlo, associate research scientist in medical chemistry.

The 1st and 2nd place winners received $8,000 in scholarships from the UM and the research offices for the Army, Air Force, and Navy. The remaining presenters received their share of more than $5,000 in scholarships.

Winners included:

First place: Eshan Safaya, Murrah High School
“Correlation between cytoplasmic vacuoles and ataxin–1 nuclear inclusions in purkinje cells in SCA 1.”

Second place: Kaci Kotteman, Lamar Christian School
“Prosopagnosia: Developing A Screening Test For Children”

Third place: Zachary Yoder, Murrah High School
“A Zebrafish Model of Short and Long–term Ethanol Exposure”

Fourth place: Malika Shettar, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School
“Circadian Phase Preferences and Sleep Patterns of High School Students”

Fifth place: Blaine Myers, Bogue Chitto High School
“Determining the Presence of Wolbachia in Mississippi’s Red Imported Fire Ants (S. invicta using the 16s rDNA Gene”

Sixth place: Seth Avant, Bogue Chitto High School
“Using Primers to Detect the Prevalence of Wolbachia in Solenpsis Invicta”

Seventh place: David Thompson, Lamar Christian School
“Does Education Level Affect Views on Welfare”

(Andrew Abernathy)