Students bring home science fair awards

Once again, Cloquet sent the largest contingent of students to Saturday's regional science fair, held at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Fifteen middle school and four high school students from Cloquet competed, plus a number of students from other schools. Although overall numbers declined this year after a post-Covid jump last year, the overall projects were better, judges said. Most of the students will compete at the 2024 State Science and Engineering Fair March 22 at the St. Paul RiverCentre.

Following is a list of the Cloquet students and their awards.

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Cloquet Middle School

Carly Ross, seventh grade

Second place ribbon

Kalli Buskala and Peyton Demenge,

seventh grade

Best of Fair, eighth place overall

Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge (JIC) nominees

Third place ribbon

Isabelle Christensen-Macor and

Gianna Stahl, seventh grade

Second place ribbon

Simon Langer, seventh grade

LHB Corporation Award-Engineering Award and Job shadow

UMD Physics and Astronomy Award

First Place-blue ribbon

Best of Fair Middle School-10th place overall

Anna-Sofia Bocanegra and

Aili Wilkensen, seventh grade

Best of Fair-ninth place overall

Second place ribbon

Jeremiah Bents and Finley Holtz, eighth grade

Top 10 Middle School Projects-Best of Fair-second place project

First Place-blue ribbon

Duluth Rotary Club #25

Great Lakes Aquarium Award

UMD Earth and Environmental Award

Melanie Buhs, eighth grade

First Place-blue ribbon

Best of Fair-sixth place

US Agency of International Development

Sea Grant Award-Excellence in Aquatic Science Award

WLSSD Award for Environmental Stewardship

Duluth Rotary #25

NOAA Taking the Pulse of the Planet Award

Annastyn Hagen, eighth grade

American Psychological Association Award

First Place-blue ribbon

Best of Fair Middle School-seventh place overall

Patrick Hill, eighth grade

Best of Fair Middle School - fifth place overall

First Place-blue ribbon

United States Air Force Award

US Metric Association

Bristol VanGuilder, eighth grade

Best of fair - fourth place

First Place-blue ribbon

UMD Psychology Department

Raelyn Wuollet, eighth grade

Best of Fair-third place overall

First Place-blue ribbon

Dick Holt Family WLSSD Award

UMD Chemical Engineering Award

Duluth Rotary Club #25

Naval Science Award

NRRI Award for Innovation and Scientific Excellence

American Fisheries Award

Cloquet High School

Ethan Lavan

Lavan, a sophomore, studied the effect of population, food supply, motivation and time on urban chicken keeping.

Regional Ricoh Sustainable Development Award

First Place-blue ribbon

Best of Fair High School-fifth place overall

Parker Sickmann

Sickmann, a sophomore, programmed a trail cam to use artificial intelligence to help identify the animals it saw.

Genius Olympiad, Rochester New York, International Fair

Best of Fair-fourth place overall

First Place-blue ribbon

NASA Earth System Science Award

Naval Science Award

Grace Lavan

Lavan, a senior, found that wolves can establish territories in areas of higher human and road density than predicted in a 1992 study.

Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair-ISEF finalist

Best of Fair High School-first place overall

First Place-blue ribbon

UMD Earth and Environmental Award

Sea Grant-Excellence in Aquatic Science Award

Zookeeper Award

LHB Corporation Award-Job Shadow

Elsie Thomas Award-UMD Pharmacy School

NRRI Award for Innovation and Scientific Excellence

Association for Women in Geoscience

Johanna Bernu

Bernu, a junior, examined the disinfectant properties of yellow water lily root, which is used in indigenous communities for treating bacterial overgrowth.

First Place-blue ribbon

Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair-ISEF Finalist

Best of Fair--second place overall

Stockholm Junior Waterprize

American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES) Gold medal

Western Lake Superior Sanitary District Environmental Science Award

Elsie Thomas Award-UMD Pharmacy School

Regeneron Biomedical Science Award

Environmental Protection Agency Award

MN Chapter of American Fisheries Society Award

US Office of Naval Research Award

Yale Science and Engineering Association Award

American Fisheries Award

Hermantown Middle School

Gabriel Bradley and Easton Mathews,

seventh grade

First Place-blue ribbon

Best of Fair Middle School- first place overall

NRRI Award for Innovation and Scientific Excellence

Elsie Thomas Award-UMD Pharmacy School