American Geosciences Institute Announces Winners of Intel ISEF Special Awards

Alexandria, VA - Emily Cross of Hammarskjold High School in Thunder Bay, Canada, won first place in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) earlier this month for her project titled “Patination of Raw Lithic Materials for Analysis of Prehistoric Artifacts.”

Second place went to Elena Jayne Mitchell of Walden School of Liberal Arts in Provo, Utah, for her project entitled “Analyzing the Surface of Mercury in Three-Dimensions.” Tsai-Ju Yu from the National Lo-Tung Senior High School in Chinese Taipei won third place for her project titled “Impact of Eyjafjallajokull Volcano Eruption on Atmospheric Temperature in 2010.”

This year’s Intel ISEF special awards ceremony took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on May 14, 2015. Student winners are ninth- through 12th-graders who qualified to compete at Intel ISEF 2015 by winning a top prize at a local, regional, state, or national science fair.

In the spring, a team of AGI judges reviews ISEF entries and presents cash awards and other prizes to Earth science competition winners. This year’s AGI team was led by AGI Past President Dr. Barbara Tewksbury, joined by Dr. Kyle Fredrick, Assistant Professor at the California University of Pennsylvania.

Intel ISEF Special Awards

Annually, AGI’s Intel ISEF Special Awards recognize three projects that best reflect the study of Earth and the mission of AGI, which aims to increase public awareness of the vital role of the geosciences to humanity and society. In support of Intel ISEF special awards, AGI sponsors a first-place award of $1,000, a second-place award of $750, and a third-place award of $250, as well as an AGI publication for each winner. To learn more, please visit http://www.americangeosciences.org/education/awards/intel.