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RIVERSIDE, Calif. — www.ucr.edu — The University of California, Riverside campus community congratulates the winners of the 16th Annual Riverside Unified School District Science and Engineering Fair, selected on March 10.

Students received awards sponsored by UC Riverside, Riverside Public Utilities, The George and Marta Brown Foundation, and the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Additionally, 41 students advanced to the Inland Empire Science and Engineering Fair at the Orange Showgrounds in San Bernardino on April 20 and 21. From there, winners will advance to the state science fair in Los Angeles, May 24 and 25.

UC Riverside faculty and graduate students were among those judging 134 entries from grades 1 to 12. Science and engineering fair projects covered areas such as environmental sciences, biology, behavioral and social sciences, engineering, and entomology. Giving speeches were event sponsor representatives Susan Rainey, superintendent of the Riverside Unified School District; Lou Vanderzyl, RUSD school board member; and from UC Riverside, Steven Angle, dean of the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences; and Satish Tripathi, dean of the Bourns College of Engineering.

The following students received sponsored awards. They are identified by student name, grade, school and project title.

COLLEGE OF NATURAL AND AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES at UC Riverside
Department of Biology

• Sophia Meneses, grade 5, Magnolia Elementary, Which Apple is More Injured


• Katie Amrhein, grade 7, Earhart Middle, Sweet California Oranges


• Hippolyte Goux, grade 10, North High, The Effect of Anthropogenic Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition on Southern California Microbial Forest Flora

Department of Botany and Plant Sciences

• Allene Finch, grade 7, Earhart Middle, If Life Gives you Lemons, Preserve Apples


• Patrick Mullens, grade 10, North High, Organic Pest Control: Glucosinolates in Broccoli Control Root Knot Nematodes

Department of Entomology

• Jenny Park, grade 2, Kennedy Elementary, How Temperature and Light Affect Insect Growth


• Karl Marrett, grade 5, Magnolia Elementary, How Did the October Wildfire Affect Insects’ Population in the San Bernardino Mountains?


• James Bishop, grade 10, North High, The Effects of Trimethyxanthine on Drosophila Melanogaster

Department of Environmental Sciences

• Rebecca Albrechtsen, grade 4, Kennedy Elementary, Germination of Marigold Seeds With and Without Dog Hair


• Aurora Stuart and Natalie Pecararo, grade 6, Kennedy Elementary, A Comparison Between City Water and Home Filtration Water

Department of Physics

• Sean Beachler, grade 5, Pachappa Elementary, What Conducts Heat?


• Darrick Hunting, grade 7, Earhart Middle, Exploring X-Rays

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER OF THE SOCIETY OF ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY

• Luke Penn-Hall, grade 10, North High, Soil Contamination by Heavy Metals in Glen Avon, California
  

BOURNS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING at UC Riverside
Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering

• Katrina Harrison, grade 6, Victoria Elementary, Do the Chemical Parameters in Tap Water Change from Day to Day?

Department of Computer Science

• Ish Bhanu, grade 9, North High, Face Recognition by Computers

Department of Electrical Engineering

• John Issa and David Stephens, grade 10, Arlington High, Can a Homemade Railgun be Constructed Inexpensively and Efficiently?

Department of Mechanical Engineering

• Kevin McGiffen, grade 7, Earhart Middle, Investigations into the Art of Hurling: Trebuchet Arm Length/Counterweight Mass

COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES, ARTS & SOCIAL SCIENCES (Behavioral Sciences Award)
Department of Psychology

• Nathan LaPré, grade 3, Magnolia Elementary, Do People See Optical Illusions Better As they Grow Older?


• Quentin Burns, grade 7, Gage Middle, Risk Perception


• Ish Bhanu, grade 9, North High, Face Recognition by Computers

THE GEORGE AND MARTA BROWN FOUNDATION
Chemistry Kit Recipients

• Courtney Felix, grade 2, Grant Elementary, It’s All a Matter of Taste


• Megan Malcuit, grade 7, Earhart Middle, Got Moo-Ving Milk?

Biology Science Kit Recipients

• Zachary Schmidt, grade 4, Victoria Elementary, Dog-Gone Spots on the Lawn


• Michael, Askren, grade 8, University Middle, Under What Conditions Does Mold Grow Best?

NASA Awards

• Alex Shea, grade 6, Jackson Elementary, Does It Matter?


• Ryan Homme, grade 6, Victoria Elementary, The Force of a Guillotine

Savings Bond Recipients

• Monica Uppal, grade 7, Earhart Middle, Electromyographic Analysis of Spine Muscles in Children with Backpacks


• Kelly Goldowski, grade 9, King High, The Effects of pH Change on Liver and Potato Homogenate


• Zerka Wadood, grade 10, North High, What Are The Effects of Different pH Levels on Rust Growth?


• Lesley Eyler, grade 12, Poly High, Soil Permeability

RIVERSIDE PUBLIC UTILITIES
Water

• Matthew Hull, grade 6, Grant Elementary, What is in the Santa Ana River?


• Joshua Linden, grade 12, Arlington High School, Clean and Clear

Electrical

• Samuel Russel, grade 4, Pachappa Elementary, Electricity on Ice


• Justyne Lewallen, grade 10, North High, Electrolysis

The following are recipients of Riverside Unified School District Best in Fair and Second Place awards, given by grade level. Students are identified by name, grade, school and project title.

Best in Fair
Grades K-3
Osten Anderson, grade 2, Victoria Elementary, Yuck, That’s on My Soda Can?

Grades 4-5
Karl Marrett, grade 5, Magnolia Elementary, How Did the October Wildfire Affect Insects’ Population in the San Bernardino Mountains?

Grades6-8
Kevin McGiffen, grade 7, Earhart Middle, Investigations into the Art of Hurling: Trebuchet Arm Length/Counterweight Mass

Grades 9-12
Hippolyte Goux, grade 10, North High, The Effect of Anthropogenic Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition on Southern California Microbial Forest Flora

Engineering Division
John Issa and David Stephens, grade 10, Arlington High, Can a Homemade Railgun be Constructed Inexpensively and Efficiently?

Second Place
Grades K-5
Zachary Schmidt, grade 4, Victoria Elementary, Dog-Gone Spots on The Lawn

Grades 6-8
Alex Shea, grade 6, Jackson Elementary, Does It Matter?

Grades 9-12
Lesley Eyler, grade 12, Poly High, Soil Permeability

The following chart lists students who advanced to the regional science and engineering fair where they will compete against students from the rest of Riverside County, and from San Bernardino, Inyo and Mono counties. They are identified by name, grade, school and project title.

Students Advancing to Regional Competition
Student Name	Grade	School	Project Title
Karl Marrett	5	Magnolia Elementary	How Did the October Wildfire Affect Insects' Population in the San Bernardino Mountains?
Quentin Burns	7	Gage Middle	Risk Perception
Sophia Menses	5	Magnolia Elementary	Which Apple is More Injured?
Tyler Hunting	4	Kennedy Elementary	NaCl Equals Hot Water
Abigail, Vileneuve	4	Victoria Elementary	Don't Weigh Me Down
Channa Newman	5	Kennedy Elementary	Does the Thickness of a Bubble Solution Affect the Color of a Bubble?
Sean Beachler	5	Pachappa Elementary	What Conducts Heat?
Kevin McGiffen	7	Earhart Middle	Investigations into the Art of Hurling: Trebuchet Arm Length/Counterweight Mass
Pablo Wudka-Robles	6	Victoria Elementary	Acid Rain: Are We All Going to Die?
Lucas Hampton	7	Earhart Middle	Blight of The Third World; The Aborting of Iron in Spinach
Natalie Pecoraro and Aurora Stuart	6	Kennedy Elementary	A Comparison Between City Water and Home Filtration Water
Elizabeth Holloway	7	Earhart Middle	Gravity
Aiden Aceves	8	Gage Middle	From the Moon to the Earth
Vasilios Morikis	8	Gage Middle	Measurement of True Noontime Using The Sun Dial Principle
Katrina Harrison	6	Victoria Elementary	Do the Chemical Parameters in Tap Water Change from Day to Day?
Darrick Hunting	7	Earhart Middle	Exploring X-Rays
Katie Amrhein	7	Earhart Middle	Sweet California Oranges
Allene Finch	7	Earhart Middle	If Life Gives You Lemons, Preserve Apples
Ian Tai	7	Earhart Middle	What Soil Beneath a Foundation Will Hold it up Best?
Farzana Ansari and Anurag Sridharan	11	North High	Got Traction?
James Bishop	10	North High	The Effects of Trimethyxanthine on Drosophila Melanogaster
Steven Amrhein	9	King High	Ascorbic Acid in Orange Juice
Joshua Linden	12	Arlington High	Clean and Clear
Benjamin Hampton	9	King High	Anemia and Chlorosis: Blight of The Third World; The Aborting of Iron in Spinach
Thomas Bytnerowicz	10	North High	The Amount of Calcium Carbonate in Eggshells?
Natalya, Kostandova	10	North High	TLC vs. Spectroscopy:Analysis Techniques of Color Identification in Cosmetics
Luke Penn-Hall	10	North High	Soil Contamination By Heavy Metals in Glen Avon, California
John Issa and David Stephens	10	Arlington High	Can a Homemade Railgun be Constructed Inexpensively and Efficiently?
Chang Wang	10	Poly High	Milk Ejection Burst of OT Neurons Evoked In Brain Slices From Lactating Rats by PGE2
Ish Bhanu	9	North High	Face Recognition by Computers
Jing Pan	9	North High	How Can Genetic Engineering Be Used to Make Bacteria Become Resistant to a Specific Antibiotic?
Ariane Tom	9	North High	Does a Plant Carry Bacteria on It's Leaves To Protect Itself From Fungi Found in Air?
Hippolyte Goux	10	North High	The Effect of Anthropogenic Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition on Southern California Microbial Forest Flora
Ray Ramirez	12	North High	Wavelength Controlled Holographic Polarization
Nicole Durbin,	9	North High	Does UV Exposure Affect Chalcone Synthase and Plant Pigments
Elaine Jones	9	North High	Do Aquatic Plants Benefit From the Presence of Fish?
Patrick Mullens	10	North High	Organic Pest Control: Glucosinolates in Broccoli Control Root Knot Nematodes
Mark Perring	9	North High	Demons in the Dirt

The University of California, Riverside (www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment has exceeded 20,500 students. The campus will open a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion.

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