Earth & Environmental Sciences(Senior Division)
First Award
California will inevitably experience future damaging earthquakes, but the exact timing and location of large events remain unpredictable. This study asked whether near-term hazard can be es…
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Second Award
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…
Earth & Environmental Sciences(Senior Division)
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a massive accumulation of microplastics located between the coasts of Hawaii and California. In 2016, the enzyme PETase showed its ability to depolymerize…
Earth & Environmental Sciences (Junior Division)
Saving water can give us long-term food security, we can help others who need it more than us, and we can donate to other people who need electricity. The average farm uses about 1,000 to 7,…
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…
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…
Earth & Environmental Sciences(Senior Division)
Our project goal is to find out how effective water hyacinth roots are at removing microplastics from the water. We hypothesize that water hyacinth will be effective at removing microplastics,…
Earth & Environmental Sciences (Track 2) (Junior Division)
First Award
Wildfires are increasing in frequency and intensity across California, producing long-term ecological impacts that persist beyond vegetation loss. One of the most significant effects occurs…
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Third Award
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…
Earth & Environmental Sciences (Junior Division)
The purpose of this project was to determine which site along the Sacramento River had the highest water quality. Understanding water quality is important for farmers because water is essent…
Earth & Environmental Sciences (Track 2) (Junior Division)
Amphibians need to have moist skin and be able to move between habitats to gather different resources such as food and shelter and to breed. For this project I did a survey of amphibians kil…
Earth & Environmental Sciences (Track 2) (Junior Division)
Last year in Southern California, multiple fires damaged many cities. These cities are now experiencing mudslides and erosion whenever it rains. As a Southern California resident, I saw a ne…
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…
Earth & Environmental Sciences(Senior Division)
Soil salinization is a growing problem on agricultural lands, especially in the central valley of California and areas where irrigated agriculture is present. Salinization damages plant root…
Earth & Environmental Sciences (Track 2) (Junior Division)
Second Award
Kelp forests declined across California in 2014 from sea star wasting disease and a heatwave, though some are now recovering. I was inspired to use accessible technology to explore this hidd…
Earth & Environmental Sciences (Junior Division)
With over 5.25 trillion plastic fragments currently suffocating our oceans and decimating coral reef ecosystems, the search for a viable recovery method has become a race against time. Tradi…
Earth & Environmental Sciences(Senior Division)
Urban microclimates, which are small variations in temperature, humidity, air quality, and carbon dioxide, have a profound effect on human health, energy consumption, and environmental susta…
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…
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Fourth Award
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…
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…
Earth and Environmental Sciences
First Award
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…
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Fourth Award
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…
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Second Award
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…
Earth & Environmental Sciences (Track 2) (Junior Division)
Our Essential Question was "How does oil affect aquatic plants?" Our Hypothesis was "If we increase the amount of oil in a water like habitat the elodeas health will decrease." We were able…
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…
Earth & Environmental Sciences(Senior Division)
Many articles of commercially mass produced clothing are dyed with very potent pigments. Azo dyes, a group of pigments that range across the color wheel, are some of the most potent. A few g…
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…
Earth & Environmental Sciences (Track 2) (Junior Division)
My experimental question was: Does wildfire smoke affect the health and growth of vegetation and how? I chose this project because I want to know how we can protect our plants before, during…
Earth and Environmental Sciences
D. polymorpha and other invasive bivalves are causing a myriad of ecological and economic problems; many treatments have either failed or led to native mussel mortality. Marrone Bio Innovati…
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Increased use of personal care products has raised concerns about their environmental impact due to the release of chemical residues into natural ecosystems. Sunscreen compounds enter aquati…