2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 1 ANIMAL BIOLOGY (JR) J01 Mahnur Bharucha Institute of Knowledge Third Place CAT VS CAT: Prevalence J0106 Of Intestinal Parasites In Shelter And Domestic Cats Split group: – Benjamin Liu Dana Middle School Second Place Novel Spiral Microfluidic J0115 Devices Using the Elasto- Inertial Effect for Urinalysis Split group: – Year 2 Liam Sherman Milken Community Schools First Place Analyzing the behaviors of J0120 Petrogale xanthopus in the Los Angeles Zoo Split group: – 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 2 ANIMAL BIOLOGY (SR) S01 Jessica Hui Viewpoint School Third Place Modulation of S0103 Mitochondrial DNA Mutation Frequency & Split group: – Accumulation by Rapamycin and Caloric Restriction in Aging Mouse Muscle Dustin Hartuv Palos Verdes High School Second Place Correlation between S0102 Habitat Quality and Abundance/Diversity of Split group: – California Birds Vick Liu Flintridge Preparatory First Place An Acoustic Enhanced School (High School) S0105 Blood Smear Device Split group: – 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 3 ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY (JR) J02 Joshua Lewis Pressman Academy Second Place Daphnia: Under the J0209 Influence Split group: – Zoraiz Hashmi Al-Huda School First Place The Battle of Wits J0207 Split group: – 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 4 ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY (SR) S02 Cheyenne Newallis San Pedro High School - Third Place An Examination of the Olguin Campus S0203 Factors that Contribute to Egg-laying of Pacific Swell Split group: – Shark (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum) Caleb Smith Palos Verdes Peninsula Second Place Utilizing a Fluorescent High School S0204 Hsp22 Pathway to Discover Lifespan- Split group: – Increasing Genes in the Drosophila Melanogaster Mirna El-khalily Francisco Bravo Medical First Place Abscisic Acid Effects on Magnet High School S0201 Cell Proliferation Split group: – 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 5 BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES - NON-HUMAN (JR) J03 Timothy Lindsey Village Christian Middle Second Place How do Different Colors School J0308 Affect a Turtle's Movement Throughout a Maze? Split group: – Benjamin Hewitt Portola Middle School & First Place Retention of Larval Stage HGM J0306 Conditioning in Post- Metamorphic Pieris Rapae Split group: – Butterflies; Can Butterflies Remember Being a Caterpillar? 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 6 BEHAVIORAL/SOCIAL SCIENCES - HUMAN (JR) J04 Joshua Richland Pressman Academy Third Place P vs. No J0431 Split group: – Justine Encontro John Muir Middle School Second Place Money and the Mind J0411 Split group: – Manaal Sayed Institute of Knowledge First Place Eating Disorders Comorbid J0433 with Depression Split group: – 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 7 BEHAVIORAL/SOCIAL SCIENCES (SR) S03 Ruwanthi Ekanayake Palos Verdes Peninsula Third Place Effects of Avatar-Based High School S0305 Virtual Reality on Veracity Perception and Kinetosis Split group: – Sam LeFevre Crescenta Valley High Second Place The Effects of Video School S0311 Games on Cognitive Function Split group: – Alexandra Garcia Francisco Bravo Medical First Place The Neural Limitations of Magnet High School S0307 Small Invertebrates: Effects of Electrical Shocks Split group: – on the Behavior of Brine Shrimp 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 8 BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (JR) J05 Jad Soucar New Horizon School Second Place It's More than a Weed, it's Pasadena J0521 Sunscreen Split group: – Elisha Johnston Youth Science Center First Place Organic and Conventional J0511 Chicken under the Microscope: A Pilot Study Split group: – Comparing Protein Quality 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 9 BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (SR) S04 Braeden Benedict Palos Verdes Peninsula Third Place Pathology and Chemistry High School S0402 of the Brain in Sanfilippo Syndrome Type B Split group: – Emily Kim Palos Verdes Peninsula Second Place Electrophysiology-based High School S0407 Screen to Discover Genes Involved in Synaptic Split group: – Homeostasis Cody Lim Francisco Bravo Medical First Place Optimizing Viral Vectors for Magnet High School S0408 Site-Specific Gene Therapy in Hematopoietic Split group: – Stem Cells 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 10 CHEMISTRY - APPLIED (JR) J06 Liam FitzGerald St. John Fisher School Third Place More Water, Please J0602 Split group: – Chloë Blue Steckart St. Timothy School Second Place The Degradation of J0611 Ascorbic Acid: Effects of Electromagnetic Radiation, Split group: – Convection Currents, and Time (Oh Say Can You See...Vitamin C!) Faatima Zahra Motala Institute of Knowledge First Place Got Biodiesel? J0619 Split group: – 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 11 CHEMISTRY - GENERAL (JR) J07 Larisa Assadourian St. Gregory A&M Third Place The Effect of Moisturizers Hovsepian School J0706 on Skin Moisture Retention Split group: A Mia Pardo Ribét Academy Middle Third Place Examination of Tartrate School J0740 Split group: B Sophie Carter Sierra Madre Middle Second Place Kinetics of the Inversion of Cameron Gomez School J0714 Sucrose Split group: B Erik Mercado Our Lady of Refuge Second Place How Does Time Affect the Catholic School J0735 Amount of Vitamin C in Oranges? Split group: A Sarah Danon Porter Ranch Community First Place Which Blond is Best? Nicole Dersahakian School J0715 Split group: B Jessie Ellico Franks Sierra Madre Middle First Place Anthocyanins as Color School J0717 Changing Acid Indicators Split group: A 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 12 CHEMISTRY (SR) S05 Diana Palma Saint Anthony High School Second Place Polystyrene and its S0518 Effectiveness of Removing Calcium and Magnesium Split group: – from Water Taniel Keosseian Rose and Alex Pilibos First Place Make Cellphone Armenian School- High S0512 Spectrophotometer to See School Light Split group: – 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 13 EARTH/SPACE SCIENCES (JR) J08 Matas Kulikauskas South Pasadena Middle Second Place A Puzzling Parallax School J0814 Perspective Split group: – George Khouri Sierra Canyon School First Place Put Your Soil To The Test! J0813 Split group: – 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 14 EARTH/SPACE SCIENCES (SR) S06 Zoe Zawol Pasadena High School Third Place The Effect of Strong S0609 Magnetic Fields Caused by Broadcast Antennas on the Split group: – Local Cosmic Ray Flux Kaitlyn Arst Daniel Pearl Magnet High Second Place Use of Starch and School S0602 Biopolymers Aqueous Solutions to Reduce Soil Split group: – Erosion Ethan Uetrecht Palos Verdes Peninsula First Place Assessing the Practicality High School S0606 of Asteroid Deflection Strategies Using Split group: – Simulation 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 15 ECOLOGY (JR) J09 Samantha Morris Mirman School Third Place H2O: Hope to Others Christina Lee J0913 Angela Lee Split group: – Logan Dalton Portola Middle School & Second Place Examining Potential Well HGM J0906 Water Contamination Split group: – Caroline Choi South Pasadena Middle First Place Drugs in Our Waters Make School J0905 Daphnia's Hearts Flutter Split group: – 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 16 ECOLOGY (SR) S07 Lilit Danelyan Herbert Hoover High Second Place Effect of Plastic on Laysan Siranush Martirosyan School S0701 Albatross Bianca Mirza Split group: – Michael McFarland Palos Verdes Peninsula First Place The Potential Impact of High School S0704 Hyperion Treatment Plant's Chlorinated Effluent and Split group: – West Basin Brine on Marine Organisms 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 17 ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS (JR) J10 Jonathan Abrams Milken Community Schools Second Place The Claw Cane; A Cane J1002 with a Claw Mechanism for Picking up Dropped Items Split group: B Alessandro Villain Ridgecrest Intermediate Second Place Comparing the Versatility Jae Won Kwak School J1048 of an Aftermarket Controller from its Split group: A Standard Counterpart Heaven Williams Crawford Academy Second Place Solar Water Collector: J1049 Effect of Collector Diameter, Tilt, and Cover Split group: A Material on Efficiency Grady Morrissey Flintridge Preparatory First Place How the Shape of a School (Middle School) J1034 Telescope's Mirror Affects the Size of Image Split group: A Produced Jahan Razavi Mirman School First Place PyroVision: A Detection J1037 System for Wildfires Split group: B 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 18 ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS (SR) S08 Shannon Chen Palos Verdes Peninsula Third Place Design and Construction of High School S0803 a Miniature Helium Airship Split group: – Christopher Isozaki Palos Verdes High School Second Place Reducing the Amount of S0810 Electricity Used by Computers Utilizing Green Split group: – Technologies Rei Landsberger Palos Verdes Peninsula First Place Effects of a Fluid-Tracking High School S0812 Design on Solar Panel's Efficiency Split group: – 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 19 ENGINEERING RESEARCH (JR) J11 Jeanie Benedict St. John Fisher School Third Place The Chinchiller - For the J1103 Coolest Pet on the Block: Effect of Air Flow Split group: – Restriction on Evaporative Cooling Donald MacArthur American Martyrs School Second Place The Effect of a Cooler J1128 Condenser in Distilling Freshwater from Saltwater Split group: – Max Froch Milken Community Schools First Place Creating Images that J1116 Represent both Monocular and Binocular Vision of an Split group: – Averaged Sized Clydesdale Horse 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 20 ENGINEERING RESEARCH (SR) S09 Jasmine Cha Village Christian High Second Place The Snitch on the Stitch School S0902 Split group: – Raymond Gilmartin South Pasadena High First Place Characterization of School S0904 Magnetic Tunnel Junctions to Improve Tunnel Split group: – Magnetoresistance for Next-Generation Memory Technologies 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 21 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT (JR) J12 Emily Banno Portola Middle School & Second Place What is the Best Mulch HGM J1206 Material to Prevent Soil Water Evaporation? Split group: – Katherine Matsukawa San Gabriel Christian First Place Photobioreactors vs. School J1222 Raceway Ponds Split group: – 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 22 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT (SR) S10 Huws Landsberger Palos Verdes Peninsula Second Place The Effect of Temperature High School S1008 on Salt Marsh Plant Growth Split group: – Martin Liu Santa Monica High School First Place Cigarette Butt Pollution Kimberly Fuentes S1011 Abundance Study Zoe Parcells Split group: – 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 23 MATERIALS SCIENCE (JR) J13 Jennifer Hritz Portola Middle School & Second Place How do Various Materials HGM J1312 and Methods for Creating Static Electricity Affect the Split group: – Ability to Generate and Store Static Electricity? So-Jung An Walter Reed Middle School First Place Playing With Pencils J1304 Split group: – 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 24 MATHEMATICS & COMPUTER SCIENCES (JR) J14 Evan Vail St. Joseph Long Beach Third Place The Groovy Gratings J1410 Experiment: Using Diffraction Patterns to Split group: – Measure Data Track Spacing on CDs and DVDs Kaylen Ng Ridgecrest Intermediate Second Place Experimental Theory of School J1407 Using Bubbles as a Sustainable Source of Air Split group: – Underwater Andrew Shaheen St. Joseph Long Beach First Place Basketball: The Geometry J1409 of Banking a Basket Split group: – 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 25 MATHEMATICS & COMPUTER SCIENCES (SR) S11 Raam Tambe Palos Verdes Peninsula Third Place The Effects of Neutral High School S1108 Agents on the Expansion of Ideology in a Split group: – Hypothetical Social Space George Hou Arcadia High School Second Place Separating Mixed Signals S1103 in a Noisy Environment Using Global Optimization Split group: – Sanath Devalapurkar West High School First Place The K-Theory of S1101 Symmetric Monoidal ∞- Categories of Modules Split group: – 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 26 MICROBIOLOGY (JR) J15 James Bowden Portola Middle School & Second Place Antibiotic Resistance By HGM J1502 Repeated Exposure Split group: – Tai Michaels Portola Middle School & First Place Which Virus is Better at HGM J1512 Killing Bacteria? Split group: – 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 27 MICROBIOLOGY (SR) S12 Sophia Hewitt North Hollywood High Second Place Optimizing Chromosomal School S1203 Exposure for Florescence In Situ Hybridization in Split group: – Tetrohymena thermophila Elan Filler Palos Verdes High School First Place Transcriptional Regulators S1202 as Drug Targets for Treatment of C. glabrata Split group: – Infection 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 28 PHARMACOLOGY (JR) J16 Aliyah Dost Institute of Knowledge Second Place Operation Combat J1602 Cholesterol Split group: – Aiman Soomro Institute of Knowledge First Place Constant Constipation J1605 Split group: – 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 29 PHARMACOLOGY (SR) S13 Eunice Padilla Francisco Bravo Medical Third Place The Effect of Magnet High School S1302 Pseudoephedrine on the Cardiovascular System of Split group: – the California Blackworms Rebecca Sine Francisco Bravo Medical Second Place Allopregnanolone Site of Magnet High School S1303 Action for Promoting Regeneration of Human Split group: – Neural Stem Cells: Uncovering the Path for the Detection of Neurogenesis Edward Park Larchmont Charter School First Place Hybrid Biosensor Capable S1398 of Early Diagnosis and Rapidly Monitoring Breast Split group: – Cancer 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 30 PHYSICS - AERODYNAMICS/HYDRODYNAMICS (JR) J17 Ethan Kita San Gabriel Christian Third Place Tangle of the Flight Angles School J1719 Split group: – Nicholas Tan Mayfield Junior School of Second Place Planes, Birds and V- the Holy Child Jesus J1732 Shapes Split group: – Dylan Lee Portola Middle School & First Place What is the Most Efficient HGM J1721 Angle of Attack of an Airplane's Wing? Split group: – 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 31 PHYSICS - ELECTRICITY & MAGNETISM (JR) J18 Samuel Wentzel St. Mel School Third Place The Utilization of Thermal J1829 Couplers Split group: – Iliana Kleiner Millikan Science Academy Second Place Power of Shields School J1814 Split group: – Matthew Prata Holy Name of Mary School First Place Just Charge It Jacob Passalaqua J1819 Split group: – 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 32 PHYSICS - GENERAL (JR) J19 Drew Quishenberry Aveson Global Leadership Second Place The Visualization of Sound Academy J1971 Split group: A Nicholas Sercel St. Bede The Venerable Second Place A Ballistic Pendulum Study J1976 of How Clothing Fabric Properties Effect Split group: B Momentum and Energy Transfer of Paintballs to Simulated Human Flesh Chloe Brandon Sierra Madre Middle First Place What is the Effect of Color School J1911 on Solar Water Heating? Split group: A Neil Hoffmann St. John Fisher School First Place The Tarzan Problem J1938 Split group: B 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 33 PHYSICS (SR) S14 Clement Decker St. Monica Academy - High Second Place Comparing Quantum and School S1404 Classical Explanations for the Non-Interference of Split group: – Orthogonally-Polarized Light Waves Clarence Nakano Flintridge Preparatory First Place Biological Electron- School (High School) S1408 Transfer Dynamics in Multiheme Cytochrome Split group: – Complexes 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 34 PLANT BIOLOGY (JR) J20 Sadie Huntley Arroyo Seco Museum Third Place Water From Its Roots Science Magnet School J2025 Split group: B Raquel Kaufman New Los Angeles Charter Second Place What Type of Grass Has School J2029 the Largest Amount of Biomass? Split group: B Johan Thuen Sierra Madre Middle Second Place Lights From The Sea: How School J2050 Do Light/Dark Cycles Affect Bioluminescence? Split group: A Anthony Castillo Our Lady of Refuge First Place Is Less More?: The Effect Catholic School J2012 of Fertilizer Microdosing on Non-GMO Diploid Yemeni Split group: A Watermelon Seeds Megan Kohanarieh Milken Community Schools First Place Germinating a mixture of J2031 Lolium perenne and Poa pratensis L.: Grey Water Split group: B vs. Tap Water 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 35 PLANT BIOLOGY (SR) S15 Adaeze Oduma King/Drew Magnet High Second Place The Effect of Wind Speed School of Medicine & S1506 on Seed Dispersal Science Split group: – Heather Robinson Palos Verdes High School First Place Effects of Temperature Amelia Dibbo S1508 Manipulation on Vitamin C Levels Split group: – 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 36 PLANT PHYSIOLOGY (JR) J21 Muhammad Abd-Allah New Dimensions Middle Third Place The Impact of Vitamins in School J2101 Negating Hydrogen Peroxide Oxidant Effects Split group: – on Seed Germination Safiyah Lakhany Institute of Knowledge Second Place Holy Spinach J2109 Split group: – Isaiah O'Neal Portola Middle School & First Place Plant Electrophysiology - HGM J2112 How Does the Stimulation of Trigger Hairs Affect the Split group: – Generation of Action Potentials in a B52 Venus Flytrap? 2015 Los Angeles County Science Fair Category Winners Page 37 PRODUCT SCIENCE (JR) J22 William Labrador Chandler School Second Place How Quickly do Tortilla J2218 Chips Become Stale? Split group: – Annaliese Rupp Holy Trinity Catholic School First Place "Mom, Do I Have to J2233 Rinse/Scrub The Plates Before I Put Them in The Split group: – Dishwasher?"