Another Medal at Intel Science Fair for Commack Senior

Commack High School senior Trinity Russell was awarded second place at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, one of the most prestigious and competitive science and engineering events in the country.  

It wasn’t her first time to the competition, though. The talented student also won a third place Grand Award, also in animal sciences, last year.   This year, her project was named "A Study of Transposition Events of the Gypsy Retrotransposon in the Neural Cells of Drosophila Melanogaster and Its Relation to Neuronal Decline."
 
Russell wrote a daily log describing each day’s activities that is posted on the Commack Website. She, and her peers, were accompanied by science teacher and mentor Lorraine Solomon. While most of the time in Phoenix was spent preparing and practicing, the students and Solomon also visited Chase Field for a baseball game, went hiking in the desert, went to a local gold mine and ghost town, and went on a boat tour around Canyon Lake.

In addition, three Commack students were invited to the competition in Phoenix, Ariz.: Russell, Anthony Bisulco (Electrical Engineering - A Practical Notification System to Identify Incoming Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances (sunspots), and Joshua Zweig (Computer Science - Wireless Coordination of a Multi-Robot System via Fuzzy Logic Control).  

The six day competition showcased the work of more than 1,500 high school students from around the world. Students’ research, methods, and findings were presented to prestigious scientists and judges over the course of the week, as well 5,000 teachers, students, and families from the Phoenix area.  

*Information and photos contributed by Brenda Lentsch/Commack Schools.