Falmouth student excels, local students earn awards, scholarships at Maine State Science Fair

A Falmouth High School student earned a top three award at the 74th annual Maine State Science Fair, organized by The Jackson Laboratory and Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance.

The March 28 virtual event included 199 students representing 32 schools in 11 Maine counties. From this group, 142 finalists were selected to present their research or engineering project to a panel of judges, in competition for coveted state titles and over $640,000 in scholarships and awards.

Patrick Wahlig earned the 3rd Grand Award for “Precision and Relative Accuracy of Striped Bass Age, Proportional Length, and Origin Estimates from Both Scales and Sagittal Otoliths of Maine Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis).” He was also a MSSF Category Winner for Animal Sciences – Nutrition and Development and received a $1,500 four-year scholarship from the University of Maine at Augusta.

The 1st and 2nd Grand Awards were won by Bangor students.

The following local students received full tuition four-year Top Scholar awards from The University of Maine: Grace Kessler, Maine Coast Waldorf School in Freeport; Rachel Kingsley, South Portland High School; and Swetha Palaniappan, Cape Elizabeth High School. Students who received a $20,000 four-year scholarship from the College of the Atlantic included Aniela Holtrop, Maine Coast Waldorf School.

Wade Wahlig, of Falmouth High School received a $1,000 scholarship from Husson University.

The JAX Promising Scientist Award for outstanding research and engineering projects by 1st year students was given by The Jackson Laboratory to Anthony Ayer, Harpswell Coastal Academy.

The Reach Award for students from schools who are new to the Maine State Science Fair, given by the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance, was awarded to Thomas DiPhilippo, South Portland High School, and Adam Nussbaum, Brunswick High School.

MSSF Category Winners included Molly Hale, Greely High School, for Behavioral Sciences – Cognitive Psychology; and Micah Pietraho, Brunswick High School, for Computer Science and Mathematics.

Additional winners of special awards from the Maine State Science Fair include: American Meteorological Society Award – Chloe Grant, Addison Bracken and Rachel Kingsley, South Portland High School; Society for Science and the Public Community Innovation Award – Isaac Burtis, Brunswick High School; Office of Naval Research Naval Science Award – Oscar Hennin, Morse High School.

The Maine State Science Fair was originally scheduled to be held at The University of Maine, but the in-person event was moved online in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Maine high school students have been working on their projects for months, with support from many dedicated teachers and mentors,” said Stefany Burrell, STEM Education Specialist, Maine Math and Science Alliance. “We knew we had to shift gears, and quickly, to ensure students still had the opportunity to present and potentially be rewarded for their work.”

“Despite the obvious difficulties, Maine students and teachers are creative and resilient,” said Michael McKernan, program director, STEM and Undergraduate Education, The Jackson Laboratory. “All of our scholarship partners, led by UMaine, stuck with us, and with the students.”

The winners were announced during a virtual award ceremony.

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