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Fox Lane’s Science Research Program Inspires
The relationship between probiotics and bacteria that cause disease in corals. The effectiveness of using serious gaming to train medical professionals to conduct emergency procedures. The relationship between vegetation on the Javits Center green roof and the insect populations found there. These are just three of the studies currently being conducted by Fox Lane High School Science Research students.
Fox Lane’s Science Research program is a three-year journey that empowers students to conduct their own research projects, which are presented at local, state and national competitions and symposia.
The course begins with students researching basic information on their topic through scholarly literature before they connect with a professional mentor in their field of study. By the fourth year of the program, students are fully prepared to communicate their scientific findings, participating in at least four required events that involve posters, oral presentations and a formal research report of their original research. In addition, students are able to earn college credit through the University of Albany for their participation each year.
“I've known about the Science Research program since middle school and always knew I wanted to do it,” said senior Rachel Akinla. “I think what really tipped the scale for me was a virtual science presentation that was available to everyone during Covid. I saw a project by Kenny Poor and it was so interesting. I knew I definitely wanted to try it.”
Rachel’s classmate Riley Hester was attracted to the independent nature of the class.
“I thought it was really interesting that we get to create our own projects and we are not following this set curriculum,” Riley said. “It's very different than any other class. You really get to customize what you want to do, create your own project and study what you want to study, which is very unique.”
Danielle Mazlish, a junior, was surprised by how hands-on the course is.
“I didn't think that you could do a project this hands-on in high school,” Danielle said. “I didn't know that you could connect with a mentor. There's a lot of using the outside world of science in this course — and that kind of surprised me, but in a good way.”
Kemari McClary, a senior, said she has been surprised by her experiences with her two mentors.
“The biggest surprise would probably be how willing they both were to take on a high school student,” she said. “I believe it is because they love seeing people interested in their fields at such a young age.”
The girls all noted that the course has really pushed them out of their comfort zone, forcing them to make phone calls, send emails and make time to pore over scholarly research.
“It really pushes you to do things that you wouldn't normally do. But we are all capable of it,” Rachel said. “It's extremely student driven. And your success is 100% based on the work that you put in.”
They also noted that students taking the course are generally very motivated and are very much interested in science.
“For the amount of time that we spend on our projects, if you're not interested or excited to do what you're doing, it's going to be miserable,” Riled said. “Over the summer we have to do 90 hours of work. If you're spending that time doing something that you don't want to do, it will be awful.”
The girls also said that the course has influenced the path they want to take in the future.
“This is going to sound dramatic, but this course has definitely changed the course of what I want to study in college and what I'm passionate about because it's given me such a good opportunity to just read,” Rachel said. “You have to do so much reading. And I read about so many different topics. For example, I did recycling my first year and I realized it was not what I wanted to do. So, I did more reading. And now I'm in the field of urban design, green design, sustainability. I absolutely love it. My college major is 100% based on that. It's really given me a lot of opportunities to just explore my passions.”
Inspired by the passion these students have for the research they are doing, we will be doing a spotlight on five students’ research projects over the next few Fridays. Learn more about:
- Riley Hester: A Downstream to Upstream Survey of Abiotic and Biotic Factors Across the Audubon Oneida Sanctuary in Greenwich, CT
- Danielle Mazlish: How will the color score of temperate and tropical corals be impacted when they are exposed to different thermal conditions?
- Rachel Akinla: A Comparison of Arthropod Communities on Four Green Roof Habitat Types on a Single Roof
- Kemari McClary: Evaluating the Amount of Serious Gameplay Required to Achieve Competence in Managing Perioperative Anaphylaxis
- Eleanor Oden: The Effects of Diel Cycling and Hypoxia on the Antimicrobial Activity of Three Coral Probiotic Strains
- Alexxandra Hoffmann: Cognitive Impairment vs. Preoperative frailty: Which one matters more for postoperative delirium?