2016 High Plains Regional Science & Engineering Fair
Full List of Award Winners
JUNIOR DIVISION
Sixth Grade Biological Sciences
 5th Place: Kaleb Holmberg, What is dirtier: sinks, toilets, or drinking fountains, North
MS
 4th Place: Madison Miller, Flower Power, Newell MS
 3rd Place: Sydnee Kjellsen, Borax vs. Epson Salt, Newell MS
 2nd Place: Slade Ladson, Horse delights, BH Christian Academy
 1st Place: Bailee Yule, Does age affect taste, Newell MS
Sixth Grade Engineering
 5th Place: Collin Bender, Cheaper charge, East MS
 4th Place: Eliseo Black Bear and Daniel Leighton, Mousetrap car, North MS
 3rd Place: Connor Crawford, Pasta bridge is falling down, Wall
 2nd Place: Zander Brost, The bigger bang theory, Spearfish MS
 1st Place: Autumn Anderson and Alvin Yang, The most aerodynamic shapes, East MS
Sixth Grade Physical Sciences
 5th Place: Isabelle Jackson, Stain out, BH Christian Academy
 4th Place: Marissa Kracht, Do plans and trees help stop tsunamis, Spearfish MS
 3rd Place: Ava Dinger and Sierra Hilgenkamp, Antacid Power, Wall
 2nd Place: Tyler Borchgrevink, Best shot, Spearfish MS
 1st Place: Max Lalonde, Does the mass of an object affect how fast it falls, Spearfish MS
Sixth Grade Social Sciences
 5th Place: Jordan Johnson, Are video games addictive, Spearfish MS
 4th Place: Halle Fjelland, The perfect treat, Spearfish MS
 3rd Place: Rebeccah Anglin, Music in numbers, Spearfish MS
 2nd Place: Connor Crowley, Sweet as sugar, Spearfish MS
 1st Place: Lacy Kenoyer, Child vs. adult, Newell MS
Seventh Grade Biological Sciences
 5th Place: Jane Doerges, For the birds, Spearfish Middle School
 4th Place: Shaylie Holben, Hey let’s rodeo, Spearfish Middle School
 3rd Place: Lyza VanZee, A fishy situation, Spearfish Middle School
 2nd Place: Ella Barnard and Reagan Fisher, Our dogs mouths cleaner than humans,
Southwest Middle School
 1st Place: Noah Friedrich, The effects of pollution on plant growth, Spearfish MS
Seventh Grade Engineering
 5th Place: Brandon Henderson and Max Krier, Flying invisible, Spearfish MS
 4th Place: Morgan Johnson, Strength by design, Spearfish MS
 3rd Place: Cameron Ausmann, Riding on air, Wall
 2nd Place: Xuan Do, Prime numbers: a million dollar mystery, Spearfish Middle School
 1st Place: Logan Langenfeld, The flight efficiency of Canadian geese, Spearfish Middle
School
Seventh Grade Physical Sciences
 5th Place: Tristan Opbroek, How density is related to the index of refraction, Spearfish
MS
 4th Place: Noah Dwyer and Michael Tang, Ice Ice Baby, Southwest MS
 3rd Place: Nick Sliper, Water doesn’t freeze at 32 degrees, Southwest MS
 2nd Place: Katie Pedneau, Shoot and swift arrows, Spearfish MS
 1st Place: Maia Pochop, It’s not so crude after all, Spearfish MS
Seventh Grade Social Sciences
 5th Place: Lilly Coffield and Amara Termes, Selfie shirt and psych evaluation, Spearfish
MS
 4th Place: Abbygail Bingham and Cole Blackett, Effects of yoga on blood pressure, West
MS
 3rd Place: Grace Walker, Keep your eyes on the road, Spearfish MS
 2nd Place: Kylie Stalder, How fast can you react, Spearfish MS
 1st Place: Laura Dennison, Can you comprehend these colors, Spearfish MS
Eighth Grade Biological Sciences
 5th Place: Ashlynn Hanson and Aleeya Malik, What are you drinking, West MS
 4th Place: Autumn Beliveau, Catalytic enzymes, Spearfish MS
 3rd Place: Maddie Boam, Acid plants, West MS
 2nd Place: Aubrey Christofferson and Erica Ling, Lab rats, West MS
 1st Place: Raechel Janssen, Temperature effects on butterflies, West MS
Eighth Grade Engineering
 5th Place: Taylor Banks and Kaitlynn Noteboom, Blade Orientation effects on wind
turbine energy output, West MS
 4th Place: James Edwards and Sam Tobin, Effects of a secondary combustion device,
Spearfish MS
 3rd Place: Zach Dugue and Isaac Gehlsen, Testing variables effect on the distance of the
dry ice cannon, West MS
 2nd Place: Gunnar Johnson, Going the distance, Belle Fourche MS
 1st Place: Eathan Jones, Airfoil efficiency, Belle Fourche MS
Eighth Grade Physical Sciences
 5th Place: Morgan Williams, What’s the pointe, West MS
 4th Place: Mason Anderson, How fast is your suit, West MS
 3rd Place: Tait Erickson and Mady Sargant, Preserving your ears, West MS
 2nd Place: Emma Saucerman, A whole new realm, North MS
 1st Place: Drake Beckloff, Blast Off, homeschool
Eighth Grade Social Sciences
 5th Place: Lyndey Dean, Personality wants to watch too, Spearfish MS
 4th Place: Sophia Gapp and Syndney Kinkart, Battle of the sexes, West MS
 3rd Place: Aaron Iverson and Grace Lobato, Music, math, and mazes, West MS
 2nd Place: Emma Siewert, Identification investigation, Spearfish Classical Christian
School
 1st Place: Carmen Dias, Left brain work vs. right brain, Spearfish MS
SENIOR DIVISION
Biological Sciences
 3rd Place: Elsie Dubray, The effects of gum flavoring on oral bacteria, Timberlake
 2nd Place: Holly Gerberding, Tea tree oil as an antibiotic, Sturgis Brown HS
 1st Place: Grayson Nelson, Devolution of Ampicillin resistance in E.coli, Sturgis Brown
HS
Engineering
 3rd Place: David Mckeen, Water current levels, Hill City Schools
 2nd Place: Jacob Hobbs and Gatlin Miller, You need gas to run an engine, Newcastle HS
 1st Place: Anna Inskeep, Splittling Layers of Cells with sound waves, Hill City Schools
Physical Sciences
 3rd Place: Amara Pennel, Does a metal alloy affect the sound quality of an instrument,
Hill City
 2nd Place: Jacob Alley and Wyatt Long, A comparison of diesel exhaust systems in
tractors, Timberlake
 1st Place: Courtney Rainbolt, The effects of temperature on an oscillating reaction,
Newcastle HS
Social Sciences
 3rd Place: Sierra Wilson, Test this, Wall
 2nd Place: Emma Michael, Stroop Effect, Wall
 1st Place: Dominique Minor, How do different genres of music affect reading
comprehension, Cheyenne Eagle Butte
SPECIAL AWARDS
The American Meteorological Society awards are given for creative scientific endeavor in the
areas of atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences.
 Winner: Nick Sliper, Water Doesn’t Freeze at 32 Degrees – Trick or Truth, Southwest
Middle school
The American Psychological Association Award recognizes outstanding research in psychology
science under the category of behavior and social sciences or any category related to psychology
sciences, biochemistry, computer science, environmental science, mathematical science,
medicine and health.
 Winner: Katerine Garrett and Klae Kelly, Testing memory recall of eyewitnesses, West
Middle School
The ASM Materials Education Foundation award is given to the most outstanding exhibit in
materials science.
 Winner: Sam Tobin and James Edwards, Effects of a Secondary Combustion Device,
Spearfish Middle School
The Association of Women Geoscientists award is given to a female student whose project
exemplifies high standards of innovativeness and scientific excellence in the geosciences.
 Winner: Maia Pochop, It’s not so crude after all, Spearfish Middle School
The ASU Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives awards recognizes two
high school projects that seek innovative solutions to humanity’s most challenging problems
involving social justice, environmental and economic prosperity.
 2nd place: Nicole Ballard, What is the most effective way to reduce Didymo in freshwater
streams, Hill City Schools
 1st Place: Alexus Little and Jay-shawn Milton, Evaluating Light Source Options in
Hydroponic Plant Growth, Lower Brule Tribal School
The Intel Excellence in Computer Science award is given to the top place high school winner in
computer science.
 Winner: Abbigail Nelson, Electronic Plant Care 2.0, Newcastle High School
The Mu Alpha Theta award is given to a high school project demonstrating the most challenging,
original, thorough, and creative investigation of a problem involving mathematics accessible to a
high school student.
 Winner: Marlowe Laroche, Jarren Estes, Iren Grassrope, Quantifying the effects of
dissolved oxygen on hydroponic plant growth; Lower Brule Tribal School
The NASA Earth System Science award is presented to the student who exhibited outstanding
efforts with a project relating to earth systems.

Winner: Ajona Jaye Spotted Horse, How does global warming affect me and what can I do to
help?, Wakpala High School
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Taking the Pulse of the Planet award
goes to an individual whose research emphasizes NOAA’s mission of science, service and
stewardship: to understand and predict change in climate, weather, oceans, and coats. To share
that knowledge and information with others and to conserve and manage coastal and marine
ecosystems and resources.
 Winner: Noah Friedrich, The effect of pollution on plant growth, Spearfish Middle
School
Ricoh Americas Corporation recognizes a student for his or her outstanding efforts in addressing
issues of environmental responsibly and sustainable development in their science and
engineering project with the Sustainable Development Award.
 Winner: Holly Gerberding, Tea Tree Oil as an antibiotic, Sturgis Brown High School
The Society for In Vitro Biology award is given to the most outstanding 11th grade student
exhibiting in the areas of plant or animal in vitro biology or tissue culture.
 Winner: Nicole Ballard, What is the most effective way to reduce Didymo in freshwater
streams, Hill City Schools
The Stockholm Junior Water Prize Competition recognizes outstanding water-related research at
the high-school level.
 Winner: Nicole Ballard, What is the most effective way to reduce Didymo in freshwater
streams, Hill City Schools
The Yale Science & Engineering Association, Inc., provides an award for the most outstanding
project exhibiting in the areas of computer science, engineering, physics or chemistry.
 Winner: Grayson Nelson, Devolution of Ampicillin Resistance of E.coli, Sturgis Brown
High School
The SI Metric Award is sponsored by the U.S. Metric Association and given to the project that
involves measures and expresses those measures consistently and correctly in SI metric.
 Winner: Ashlynn Hanson and Aleeya Malik, What are you drinking, West MS
The Sanford Promise award is recognizes excellence in biomedical science.

Winner: Kodi Traversie, The effect on bacteria: natural derivatives vs. convention drugs
The Space Grant award is given to the top astronomy/space-related project.
 Winner: Nicholas Bad Warrior, Shipping living quarters to the moon, Timber Lake
The South Dakota Veterinary Medical Alliance provides the Veterinary Award to the top scorer
in biological sciences.

Winner: Sarah Stading, Tortoiseshell Genetics, Spearfish Middle School
The South Dakota Science Teachers Association Award is presented for excellence in the field of
scientific research.
 Winner: Maia Pochop, It’s not so crude after all, Spearfish MS
The Office of Naval Research is committed to supporting science, technology, engineering and
math initiatives an programs for our nation’s young people and recognizes one senior and one
junior division winner

Winners: Holly Gerberding, Tea tree oil as an antibiotic, Sturgis Brown HS and Maia Pochop, It’s
not so crude after all, Spearfish MS
The Air Force Research Laboratory is proud to support science, technology, engineering, and
math initiatives for our nation’s youth and recognizes one senior and one junior division winner.

Winners: Grayson Nelson, Devolution of Ampicillin resistance to E.coli, Sturgis Brown HS and
Drake Beckloff, Blast off, Homeschool
The $5,000 Science Lab Makeover Award is provided by the South Dakota Experimental
Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. This award is given to a deserving, rural high
school to use on materials, technology equipment, and supplies to further enhance laboratory and
student research efforts.
 Winner: Timber Lake
This year, South Dakota EPSCoR has also created school-based challenge competition that will
award cash prizes to schools whose top three student projects have the highest average scores.
The funds may be used by the schools to pay for any investment in STEM equipment or supplies
that will increase student participation in science fairs and will allow them to undertake more indepth research projects.
 The school with the third highest student project average, which will receive a $500 cash
prize is: Belle Fourche Middle Schools
 The school with the second highest student project average, which will receive a $750
cash prize is: West Middle School
 The school with the highest student project average, which will receive a $1,00 cash prize
is: Spearfish Middle School
The runner-up qualifier for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair is a student who
had the second highest overall score in the senior division. This student will replace the first
place qualifier if for any reason the qualifier cannot attend the International Fair.
 Runner-up qualifier: Wyatt Long and Jacob Alley, A comparison of diesel exhaust
systems in tractors, Timber Lake
The first place qualifier of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair is the student who
had the highest overall score in the senior division and will represent the High Plains Region on
an all-expense paid trip to the International Fair in Phoenix, Arizona, May 8-13.
 First place qualifier: Grayson Nelson, Devolution of ampicillin resistance of E.coli,
Sturgis Brown High School