American Scientist

My past life as a molecular biologist taught me that science fairs and poster presentations represent a rite of passage for young researchers. Conferences use these sessions to showcase emerging data and allow the community to engage in some healthy self-examination. It seems that not much has changed over the years.

During my recent trip to the 2015 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Pittsburgh, I was able to peer into the future of science. Based on my observations, I’m pleased to report that the state of young science is strong.

ISEF, a program of Society for Science and the Public, is the largest precollege international science competition in the world with participation by more than 1,700 high school students from more than 75 countries, regions, and territories competing for more than $5 million in prizes. I had the pleasure of serving as lead judge for a group of 25 Sigma Xi members who volunteered to select the Sigma Xi Special Award recipients in the team science category.

We began the first day of judging with a list of 286 projects from which we had to select four winning teams to share in prizes totaling $6,000. The task was daunting given the profound quality of the research, but we managed to identify 33 contenders and, eventually, the winners.

As time ticked down, we visited the final posters and made our way to the doors. The exhausted students and judges exited the exhibit hall into a horde of eagerly awaiting parents and teachers. The crowd roared with cheers and applause. Parents thanked the judges and teachers congratulated their students. It was a fitting conclusion to an extraordinary experience.

It’s easy to imagine that, like the students who competed in Pittsburgh, the authors featured in this issue connected with science at an early age. Here they’re able to provide the answers they’ve found to burning questions that piqued their interest years earlier. Stamatios Krimigis and Robert Decker, for example, give an update on the incredible findings still coming in from the twin Voyager probes, launched 38 years ago, in “The Voyagers’ Odyssey”; Peter Klimley explains how magnetic patterns could be used by adult female sharks to navigate to coastlines to give birth, in “Shark Trails of the Eastern Pacific”; and, in the Perspective column, “Breached Ecological Barriers and the Ebola Outbreak”, Robert Dorit poses looming questions for the next generation of curious minds. Specifically, what disease risks will we face as humans delve ever deeper into our planet’s rainforests? How can we tend more intelligently to our health and to the health of the ecosystem?

I am certain that as today’s students tackle such important and perplexing questions, we’ll see the names currently listed in the ISEF Finalist Directory make it into the Sigma Xi honor rolls. Meanwhile, I’ll be looking forward to the first submission to American Scientist from the Intel ISEF talent pool. — Jamie L. Vernon ( @JLVernonPhD )