Browse real student projects, abstracts, and awards.
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is a synthetic polymer commonly found in cosmetic products such as shampoos and conditioners. Its widespread use raises environmental concerns due to its accumulati…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Modeling and predicting ocean currents at small scales of less than 50 km help better understand ocean phenomena such as biogeochemical fluxes and nutrient flows. However, this small scale,…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Nine of NOAA’s top 10 costliest natural disasters were major hurricanes, highlighting the logically clear need to protect the 40% of the global population living near coastal areas. Despite…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
The Maumee River is the largest tributary of Lake Erie in the Great Lakes watershed. The objective was to identify the presence of microplastics in the Maumee River and two of its tributarie…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Microplastics in waterways are becoming an ever-increasing problem for the natural world and for humans as well. It is important to find ways to remove microplastics effectively. Ferrofluids…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
In late July 2024, cyclone “Kirsty” caused exceptionally intense rainfall in central Latvia, resulting in severe flooding and record-breaking precipitation totals for Latvia. This study inve…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
My project is a Chesapeake Bay case study simulation built using an existing Lagrangian tracking model, driven by real National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) current and wind da…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Oil spills are among the most serious environmental threats. They remain difficult to control, and current remediation methods either disperse oil into water or use chemically aggressive tre…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
It's been hypothesized that carbonaceous chondrite meteorites can transport compounds crucial to planetary habitability. Meteorites generate hydrothermal systems through impact energy dissip…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Known as the “rainforests of the sea” coral reefs support over 1 billion people. Yet the rising ocean temperatures have driven increasingly frequent coral bleaching events, threatening reefs…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
According to UNEP, Sand is the most mined solid natural resource in the world, with up to 50 billion tons used annually. This high demand results in unmonitored illegal mining. It is a $350…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Nitrobenzene is a potential carcinogen, highly flammable, and toxic environmental pollutant in air, water, and soil that is commonly synthesized in pesticide, dye, and explosives manufacturi…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
This experiment focuses on the effectiveness of metal oxide nanoparticle infused biochar in adsorbing heavy metals (Pb and Cd) from simulated runoff. The basis of this experiment is the surf…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Methane (CH4) emissions from flooded rice paddies are a major contributor to agricultural greenhouse gases, driven by the anaerobic activity of methanogenic archaea in soil environments. Red…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
This study investigated Martian soil and different way to enhance the soil for plants to grow on Mars because the soil on this planet is not able to support life let alone grow food. I teste…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
There is a critical global need to develop effective methods for monitoring and assessing damage to urbanized landscapes under conditions of active hostilities. Moshchun village in Kyiv Obla…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Prescribed burning and mechanical thinning are forest treatments commonly used to alter forest structures for wildfire mitigation. In 2001, the National Fire and Fire-Surrogate (FSS) Study e…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Because exact earthquake prediction remains unavailable and retrofit budgets are limited, I developed a physics-anchored continuous space-time model to rank where short-term regional seismic…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Urban growth and the associated loss of vegetation and green spaces in Gauteng Province, South Africa, were analysed for the period 2016-2040. The study examined land cover change, particula…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Microplastic (MP) contamination is a persistent environmental and public health threat, with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) MPs detected in drinking water, human blood, and placental tissu…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
The eastern oyster is critical for coastal habitats and provides biological benefits such as improved water quality, stabilization of shorelines, and increased estuarine biodiversity, yet oy…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
The increase in climate catastrophes in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, such as landslides, floods, and other disasters, represents a challenge for family farmers in the affected r…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Extreme weather events including hail, intense precipitation, tornadoes, and hurricanes cost billions of dollars in annual damage and endanger general public safety, yet remain challenging t…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Rainfall-generated soil erosion at highway construction sites is a significant source of contaminants in stormwater discharges, which has serious implications for water quality and regulator…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Fire, caused by the combustion of flammable material and characterized by heat, flames, and often smoke, can profoundly affect soil properties and nutrient availability. Its impact on soil f…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
There remains to be a purely natural, comprehensive water purification method that can remove both pathogens and heavy metals and is capable of implementation in resource-limited settings. T…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Currently, plastic pollution is one of the major environmental challenges faced due to the mass presence of synthetic polymers and their degradation into microplastics and nanoplastics, whic…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Wildfire smoke increasingly impacts agricultural land, specifically in the PNW, yet the effects of seed exposure to smoke remain poorly understood. This study investigated the effects on pla…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
This study was done to determine how the frigid snow covered winters in Northeastern Minnesota affect wolf movement. The hypothesis was: If wolf movements are compared, then wolves [1] would…
ISEF · 2026
Earth and Environmental Sciences
By creating an HKUST-1 MOF, composed of the chemicals Copper (II) Nitrate Trihydrate and 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid, and implementing it inside the bioreactor, this experiment will test…