On Monday, June 6, teachers, students and parents gathered after school to honor the select group of students who conducted an Independent Science Research project during the 2015-2016 school year. Fourteen students: five seniors, five juniors, and four sophomores shared their year’s work with the audience.

 

Grade 12 students Charlotte Champ’16, Madison Forde ’16, Morgan Kang ’16, Alexandra Koskosidis ’16 and Kelly Wong ’16 each presented extensive details about their projects, including the process, the work completed and conclusions from the experience. Topics ranged from Ecology to Neurology to Biochemistry, but all were impressive in both aim and result.

 

The annual ISR program allows students in Grades 10-12 to take initiative and pursue a topic of her own choosing. This process involves detailed research finding an area of interest, developing relationships with a mentor in the professional world and executing a self-designed study. All of the scientific work is also presented in an academic journal, with each edition archived by Spence’s Science Department.

 

ISR allows students to take initiative outside of Spence, and also reflect on those experiences among their peers. Along with the work done outside of the School, students meet weekly to create a forum for sharing ideas and solving problems.

 

“ISR taught me patience,” said senior Morgan Kang, who studied the structure and function of Ribonucleic Acid at Hunter College’s Biology Lab. “In the fast-paced world that Spence is, I rarely worked on projects for more than a few weeks. I learned to love that speed and constant change. Three years of working helped me discover again the value of long-term goals. Every procedure and every trial was in pursuit of a single goal.”

 

Dr. Colm O’Mahony, Science teacher and ISR advisor, praised this year’s participants: “By pursuing research in an area of interest, each student embodies [Spence’s] motto.” Dr. Mahony also cited several examples of challenges that the students overcame in pursuing their projects. The lab where Alexandra conducted her research moved from New Jersey to Texas in the middle of her work. Not phased by this, Alexandra moved along with the lab to Texas and completed her research, he noted. “Each senior overcame obstacles to get to this point, and it goes without saying—they put in a lot of hard work.”

 

Congratulations to the seniors for completing their research and presenting it to the Spence community. Sophomores and juniors will  continue with their work in the fall of 2016.

Click here to view an extended photo album of the ISR symposium!