Science Research sweeps FJAS

Student science researchers traveled to Lakeland, Fla. to compete in the Florida Junior Academy of Science (FJAS) competition March 11, 2023. Following a three-year hiatus, with last year’s conference being held online, students were finally able to present in person at Florida Polytechnic University.

Before presenting, students first had to submit their reformatted papers to review, and a maximum of 20 students were chosen in each category to present their work. Following selection, students chose whether to present as either a speaker or with a poster.

“I think FJAS gave me a great opportunity to share my work and practice my presentation skills,” said sophomore Anik Bora. “It was fun and exciting to participate in.”

With over 100 delegates in attendance, competition was fierce, but the hard work of Heritage Researchers paid off as Heritage swept all categories at the awards ceremony. See awards listed below:

Behavioral Poster:

First Place – Iris Fan, sophomore

Second Place – Emma Colarte Delgado, sophomore

Third Place – Aliyah Dania, freshman

Biological Poster:

Third Place – Akansha Mehta, junior

Fourth Place – Samuil Petrov, sophomore

Environmental Poster:

First Place – Akshay Kumar, sophomore

Medical Poster:

First Place – Likhitha Selvan, sophomore

Fourth Place – Amarachukwu Okpala, junior

Behavioral Speaker:

Second Place – Melodi Fugate, junior

Third Place – Camila Galicia, freshman

Biological Speaker:

Fourth Place – Anneliese Hsiao, freshman

Environmental Speaker:

First Place – Anagha Iyer, freshman

Second Place – Kamilat Mustapha, sophomore

Third Place – Lorenzo Pulmano, junior

Fourth Place – Anik Bora, sophomore

Medical Speaker:

Third Place – Lauren Wong, junior

Middle School:

First Place – Derya

First Place – Vid Yash

Second Place – Ivan

_{With schools attending from all over Florida, FJAS had over 120 attendees and 87 competitors. (Photo/Celine Yacoub)}

^{19 of the 35 students that attended from Heritage won an award. (Photos/Celine Yacoub)}

_{Keynote speaker William Phillips shared his findings about revised methods to the metric system with students. (Photos/Celine Yacoub)}

^{Students were given the option to either present as speakers or poster presenters. Each student had a total of three judges to watch their presentation. (Photos/Emma Colarte Delgado and Celine Yacoub)}