Cloquet Students Attend NAISEF

Eight Cloquet Senior High School students (from left to right) Alec Lamirande, Preston

Jackson, Kendra Pallin, Logan Pallin, Cassandra Roy, Abby Anderson, Randi Nikko, Courtney Jackson and Zhaa Zhaa Greensky from Connor-Jasper Middle School. Contributed Photo

May 15

Cynthia Welsh

Eight Cloquet Senior High School students and one Conner-Jasper Middle School student attended the National American Indian Science and Engineering Fair (NAISEF) March10 to 14 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Over 250 American Indian Students from across the United States competed with their science research projects.
At this fair, one project is chosen for each grade/category level to receive a project award. Many special awards are awarded; six projects are chosen to advance to participate in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

Eighth grader Zhaa Zhaa Greensky (Medicine and Health), from Conner-Jasper Middle School and six ninth graders from Cloquet, Alec Lamirande and his partner Preston Jackson (Category—Engineering: Materials & Bioengineering), Cassandra Roy (Cellular and Molecular Biology) and Randi Nikko (Biochemistry) were the single projects chosen in their categories for the first place project category award. Abby Anderson and her partner Kendra Pallin (Environmental Science) were awarded a third place project medal.

Courtney Jackson, a Cloquet eleventh grader, and Logan Pallin, a Cloquet senior, also received first place category awards. Courtney Jackson was awarded the American Meteorology Award, Association for Women in Geosciences Certificate, NOAA: Taking the Pulse of the Planet Award and the Google Technology Award.

Logan Pallin received the Ricoh Americas Corporation Award, Stockholm Junior Waterprize, and the Environmental Protection Agency Award. Preston Jackson and Alec Lamirande were also awarded the EPA award and won the IBM Team Project Award.

The top Grand Awards for the day were presented to Logan Pallin and his project titled “The use of a rain garden to control road runoff on Scanlon Creek, phase IV” and Courtney Jackson and her project titled “The Coronae Paradox: The use of Magellan radar data to determine the overall geologic history of a circular low on Venus—Phase III”. They will travel to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in May to compete with 1500 student from 50 countries for over 8 million dollars in scholarships and prizes www.societyforscience.org/isef.

The American Indian Science and Engineering Societies (AISES) mission is to “increase the representation of America Indian and Alaska Natives in engineering, science and other related technology fields (www.aises.org) .” Cloquet’s and Connor-Jasper Middle School’s attendance at the National Science and Engineering Fair was sponsored by the National Science Foundation with the University of Minnesota Geoscience Alliance and their Diversity Director Diana Dalbotten and Alyssa Burger, Educational Outreach Director. As well as by Holly Pellerin and Fond du Lac College and Cloquet Public Schools.

Courtney Jackson, Cloquet 11th grader and Logan Pallin, Cloquet 12th grader were awarded the top Grand Awards. They will advance to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in San Jose, CA in May.

Alec Lamirande and Preston Jackson, Cloquet Freshman were awarded the IBM Top Team Project Award.