57th Hawai’i State Science and Engineering Awards
This years fair was held March 31 to April 2, 2014. Unfortunately for the students, judging was held on April Fool’s Day. The number of entomology projects was at an all time low although the number of GMO related projects sky rocketed. It was great to see all but one project had a HES member serving as a mentor.
Senior Research Division
First Place: Ms. Gabrielle Beniga of St. Andrew’s Priory looked at the effects of tea on Drosophila. Her project "The Effects of Pure Tea on the Longevity and Reproductive Cyle ofDrosophila melanogaster” showed that tea, especially green tea, has some pretty dramatic effects on development. She has since boosted her intake of green tea and plans on continuing her project.
Junior Research Division
First Place: Ms. Aliyah Abanes of St. Andrew’s Priory had difficulty finding a mentor because “the UH website needs some serious updating” but she did find mentors in Dr. Ming-yi Chou and Dr. Luc Leblanc. Both assisted her in her project “What Effect Does Pesticide Treated Papaya Have on Oriental Fruit Fly Rearing and Mortality Rates?” She compared commercially bought organic papaya with conventionally grown papaya but concluded that she needs to re-do the tests, next time with papaya she treated herself.
Second Place: Ms. Anne Nakamoto of Waiakea Intermediate School, once again partnered with Dr. Jesse Eiben to produce a great project. This time her project was titled, “A study of the Food Preferences of the Recent Invader, Cardiocondyla kagutsuchi in Hale Pohaku.” She looked at what was more attractive to the ants, jam, peanut butter or that old favorite SPAM.