Laura Marie Ernst of Ursuline Academy Wins a Grand Finalist, Second Award in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (May 2000)
Marie Sherman, Science Teacher at Ursuline Academy in St. Louis, MO, announced that one of her senior students, Ms. Laura Ernst, won a second in the Grand Awards at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair held in Detroit, MI in May, 2000.
Ms. Ernst placed in the top five out of a total of 88 entrants in her category (Botany). As part of her studies at Ursuline, Ms. Ernst did a two-year project for Independent Science Research using C-Fern. Comparing the growth of wild type and salt tolerant C-Fern mutants (strain stl2 ) in 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% sea water, she found that the 25% and 50% groups grew surprisingly well. She then analyzed the tissues from each group for chloride, calcium, Vitamin C and chlorophyll content. This gave her some interesting data for graphs and extended analysis. Ms. Ernst received $1,500 in prize money! In Fall 2000 she will attend Washington University (St. Louis) as a freshman majoring in Biology with a specialty in Botany.
