Thirteen Advanced Scientific Research (ASR) and Topics in Engineering students ventured to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Feb. 23 to present their projects at Augustana University for the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS). Program advisors Karissa Baker (ASR), Kate Lockwood (Topics in Engineering), and chaperone Colton Werner traveled with the students.

This is the first time the science students have attended the conference in person since 2019. Augustana University is taking over the competition from the Minnesota Academy of Sciences.

“In person is always better,” Baker said. “The students are going to listen to other presentations and we’re going to get a campus tour.”

After working for a semester on a specific facet of STEM, ASR students finished by writing a cumulative paper of their findings and methodology of research.

Senior Sam Gilats preferred the research to the writing.

“It’s a full paper with an abstract, intro, methods, results, [and] discussion. Mine ended up being about 18 pages,” they said.

Presentations include a 12-minute slideshow and six to eight minutes of judges’ questions. The U.S. Department of Defense sponsored the event and organized a panel of judges from the university who are experts in each category.

Gilats worked on bromine, a compound found in cacao, and its regeneration capabilities. This was the first time presenting for many ASR students: “It’s definitely a little bit stressful, not the stakes necessarily, but presenting in front of a bunch of professionals,” Gilats said.

Junior Talia Cairns focused her project on the plant Elodea Canadensis, which can soak up excess nutrients in water. In her research, the plant absorbed runoff phosphate and nitrate in lakes and rivers. After working for a semester, Cairns looked forward to ending on a high note with the trip: “It’s nice wrapping everything up and seeing how this work is actually impactful,” she said.

To qualify for the symposium, students had to submit their papers, and 12 out of the 13 ASR students and one Tech Topic student’s papers were selected to present at the official weekend.

Gilats appreciated the experience. “Getting practice conducting and designing an experiment, writing the paper, and then being able to communicate my research in general [is important],” they said.

The top five finalists moved on to an all-expenses paid trip to the National JSHS Symposium in Albuquerque, New Mexico on May 1-4 to present their research. Bora Mandic won first place, and David Schumacher took seventh place.

This story was originally published in the March print issue of The Rubicon, which hit stands on March 5.