CSF - Connecticut Science Fair

Our ISEF time is starting to wrap up. Tonight, after the grand awards and a great dinner, the students and Mr. Wisner, Dr. Cooper, and I went to see the new Matrix movie. Returning back we talked about the merits of the movie - or really the lack thereof. Joia and Emily joined me for a midnight talk to discuss some ideas.

FEATURED STUDENT OF THE DAY - JOIA RAMCHANDANI

I first had the opportunity to meet Joia three years ago when she was a sophomore. She was trying to extract some genomic DNA from Daphnia (small crustaceans) if I recall correctly, but was having trouble. Her teacher and a great friend of mine brought Joia and another student over to my lab in Stamford and we did an isolation and separation. I saw what a motivated student Joia was at that time and it is exciting to see how she has blossomed into the amazing student and young woman she is today.

Joia is a senior at Greenwich High School and will be attending MIT next year. She has a strong interest and plans to pursue a career in Biotechnology, but is not sure where her degree will take her. She informs me that she is interested in teaching, research, perhaps even a medical doctor. She will feel out her likes and dislikes at college. Joia has completed her research this year at MIT as part of an outreach program. She has dutifully traveled to Boston for the past couple of years on weekends and extended holidays to conduct her research. (Let's talk about motivation!)

Joia was not too thrilled with the Matrix movie. I asked her what kinds of movies she did like and she listed titles including an Audrey Hepburn movie Wait Until Dark. I asked Joia what one of her favorite places to go was. She talked about going to Greenwich Beach. She likes all of the different things you can do there including swimming, jogging, rollerblading, and sailing. She thinks of it as a good place to unwind and a good place to get away.

FEATURED STUDENT OF THE DAY - EMILY CERSONSKY

Emily didn't even get out of the theater before she told us how bad she thought the new Matrix movie was. I asked her what movies she liked and she listed an eclectic group including: Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Princess Bride, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. She told us that part of Ferris Bueller was filmed on a street perpendicular to the one she lives on, and although she does not remember it, she met Matthew Broderick while filming.

Emily is a senior at Sacred Heart Academy in Hamden. She makes a 30-minute commute everyday from Oxford. She loves science, especially genetics and would like to make a career in that field. She was inspired to do so when her teacher Sister Mary Jane took her to the Tiger Conference in Boston. She went to a talk on Evolutionary Genetics and found it to be one of the most interesting things she had ever heard.

I asked Emily how she got into her project and worked at Yale. She informed me that after her freshman year she begged her teacher to get her a job at Yale for the summer. She finally go a fellowship there to conducted her research. Emily really hopes to continue doing research and said she would seek out opportunities to attend symposia or academic meetings where she could share the result of her research.

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I must say that Emily and Joia are two motivated and mature women. It is exciting to know that they will pursue careers in science. They will certainly be a welcome and important addition to the profession. It was very rewarding for me to work one-on-one with them and Mr. Wisner as they prepared for their projects. The knowledge and discipline they had demonstrated how hard they worked - but moreover how much they enjoyed what they did. I am honored to have had the opportunity to work with them this past week. They will be remembered as two very important alumnae of the Connecticut Science Fair.

Respectfully submitted,
Frank LaBanca
Science Teacher, Stamford High School
For the Connecticut Science Fair