Nigel Corea
Nigel was a rising senior at Malvern Preparatory School when he attended the TREES program. For his project, he worked with the crude glycerol which is a byproduct of making biodiesel from cooking oil. Also, he ran tests on biodiesel, such as energy comparison between biodiesel and ethanol. Some of his hobbies are soccer, squash, and track. Nigel currently attends Lehigh University and is interested in majoring in mechanical engineering and business.
Victor Fiore
Victor was a rising senior at The William Penn Charter School the summer he attended the TREES program. He says, “One could say that I am a nerd, but I like to call myself a Bio-Nerd. I have loved biology since I was a small child of 14 years when I did my first dissection of a frog, from there on I could consistently be found in the science departments of my school talking to the teachers and doing whatever I could to further my knowledge in science. From this one might think that all I care about is science, when in fact it is not. I am the Captain of Boys A Cappella, a member of the Crew Team, and a founding member of the Philosophy Club. So to sum up who I am as a person, I am a normal High School student with a strong affinity to science.” Victor currently attends Drexel University and plans to major in biology.
Ariel Parker
Ariel was a rising junior at Friends’ Central School when she was at the TREES program. At TREES, she was using BLYES yeast (specially-prepared yeast) to detect the presence of hormones in consumer products and in the environment. She currently attends Swarthmore College and plans to major in either biology or chemistry.
Ayana Peterson
Ayana was a seventeen year old rising junior at the Baldwin School the summer she attended the TREES program. She states, “I am interested in finding a way to reduce the negative impact humans have on the environment. Each year, mostly resulting from our overwhelming need for energy, more and more CO2 along with other greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere with the burning of fossil fuels. This summer I am exploring one of the developing technologies that scientists, engineers, and various governmental systems are investigating as a means of eradicating this problem. One such technology is called Carbon sequestration, in which CO2 is removed directly from the flue gas that is produced when coal is burned. I am replicating that process in the lab, using a reagent called ethanolamine to remove CO2, produced by dry ice. Hopefully, this technology is a step in the right direction toward an environmentally friendly world.” She currently attends Haverford College.
Rochelle Ratnum
Rochelle was a rising senior at Upper Darby High School when she attended the TREES program. The independent research that she was doing was water purification to remove phosphate from drinking water. Since she could not use arsenic, she was using phosphate to do her experiment. She currently attends Temple University and plans to major in biology and Korea.
Rebecca Saionz
Rebecca was a rising junior at Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy when she attended the TREES program. Her project centered on UV light sensitivity of DNA repair mutant yeast. She currently attends the University of Pennsylvania.