Browse real student projects, abstracts, and awards.
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
This project was meant to assess the public health risk posed by arsenic (As) in Texas drinking water on a local and statewide scale, find out if climate was affecting As concentrations stat…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Microplastics have become a prevalent global environmental issue, with an estimated 75 trillion microplastics in the oceans today. MPs pose dangers to wildlife and cause serious health issue…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Oak decline is a global phenomenon threatening oak tree populations, the economic value of timber, and ecosystems. This study addresses a research gap by analyzing factors contributing to oa…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
In 2024, climate change-induced wildfires burned over 8 million acres across the U.S. and my home state of Oregon faced its most destructive wildfire year on record, with 1.9 million acres s…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Purpose: The EPA estimates that by 2050, 12,000 metric tons of plastic will be discarded into the ecosystem. Studies have shown that a liter of bottled water may contain thousands of micropl…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Indicator species are a significant part of environmental science, as they are used to predict environmental metrics that may otherwise be unattainable. The growth of the field is unpreceden…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Since the late 1970s, the Arctic has experienced a temperature rise more than three times the global average, leading to accelerated thawing of permafrost. This thawing initiates thermokarst…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Understanding pCO2 is essential for assessing the ocean's role in the global carbon cycle. However, in many current methods for predicting pCO2, satellite-derived measurements for regional w…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Water treatment plants use disinfectants like chlorine to eliminate waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid. However, disinfection results in the formation of disinfection byproducts…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Zooxanthellae is the mutualistic microorganism that lives in coral and provides nutrients for the expansion of coral with the byproducts of photosynthesis. The main photosynthetic pigment is…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
By the year 2050, it is estimated that cumulative plastic production will reach 34 billion tons (Bt), and at pace with the current consumption rate, around 12 Bt of per week (PW) will find t…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
This project investigated the correlation between solar indices (AE, By, Bz, SYM_H, and F10.7), aurora activity, and TIMt layers. This research was motivated by the findings of Chu et al. 20…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Surface water is decreasing in the Rio Grande as a consequence of climate change, intensifying the vulnerability of our aquifers due to higher demand for groundwater pumping. Agricultural pr…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
This experiment was performed to significantly cut down the amount of polluted freshwater bodies in the world. This experiment has findings that make this much faster, easier, and cheaper th…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Coral reefs are the world's most vital marine ecosystems, producing 50% of the world's oxygen and sustaining the livelihoods of 1 billion people globally. However, coral bleaching, a phenome…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
The purpose of this investigation is to determine if there is a relationship between different coral species and their ability to adapt to heat. This experiment explores how corals might inc…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Louisiana pipelines are made of many different materials as they were all built during different times where certain metals were optimal. These aging pipes can be hazardous to the community,…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Arctic sea ice and permafrost are critical to global climate balance and bio-geophysical diversity. Recent CryoSat-2 satellite data indicates that ice thickness is depleting at the rate of 1…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Coal Fly Ash (CFA) is a byproduct of burning coal. Only 60% of CFA is recycled with the remaining 40% potentially damaging the environment (ACAA, 2023). CFA is toxic because of heavy metals.…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
This experiment consists of the waste of peanut shells being used to retain water and preserve cellulose fibers. The experiment aims to see if peanut shells can help retain the water in the…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Coastal erosion is a growing global crisis, threatening economies, ecosystems, and communities. Around the world, beaches are disappearing due to shifting wave patterns, rising sea levels, a…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Forests store large quantities of carbon globally. However, a decrease in the forest area is considered to contribute to global warming. Protecting forest ecosystems is vital for curbing glo…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Currently, 40% of the world's population is impacted by limited access to water resources, and conditions will only worsen due to climate change. This water scarcity endangers agricultural p…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Wetlands are crucial to Earth, improving water quality, protecting against floods, and providing homes to hundreds of species. Wetland loss has increased by more than 50% in the US since 200…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Approximately 98% of Americans have detectable levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in their blood. These “forever chemicals” have been recognized as emerging contaminants in…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Many consumer sunscreens contain potentially harmful chemicals to freshwater environments such as endocrine disruptors and carcinogens. Exposure to UV-filters has, over time, been shown to a…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Eutrophication poses serious threats to coastal ecosystems globally, highlighting the urgent need for innovative and sustainable wastewater treatment solutions under a changing climate. This…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic that can end up in our water, making their way into rivers, lakes, and even the ocean. These small particles are a big problem because they dont brea…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Coral reefs are one of Earth's most valuable ecosystems, but they are in decline, fueling a surge of restoration activity across the global tropics. Yet, despite significant scientific advan…
ISEF · 2025
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Global Microplastic Pollution, an “Environmental Ticking Time Bomb”, is a significant and ongoing threat to the environment, world's water-quality, and human-health. Humans now ingest >5 gra…