This year, in an effort to hinder the spread of the novel coronavirus, we’re taking the Maine State Science Fair online. Judges will interview students through our Zoom online meeting platform on the morning of Saturday, March 28. Time and technological constraints limit the number of interviews they will conduct. As a result, the judges identified a list of finalists, shown below.

Watch the Awards Ceremony

Awards

Grand Awards

Our Grand Award winners would normally represent Maine at Regeneron ISEF, but due to the cancellation of that event they will receive $500 each instead.

Ist Place
Vetri Vel – Bangor High School
Real-time Fall Detection System for the Elderly Using Deep Learning and Thermal Imaging

2nd Place
Amara Ifeji – Bangor High School
Using Biofiltration Media and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) to Enhance the Phytoremmdiation of Heavy Metals – Stormwater Reconstructed Wetlands

3rd Place
Patrick Wahlig – Falmouth High School
Precision and Relative Accuracy of Striped Bass Age, Proportional Length, and Origin Estimates – Both Scales and Sagittal Otoliths of Maine Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis)

Category Awards

We recognize the top three projects in each category. Our category award winners will receive their choice of select STEM nonfiction books.

Animal Sciences – Behavior & Ecology
Ist Place – Alexander Maker – Washington Academy
2nd Place – Lilian Nowak – Bangor High School
3rd Place – Maria Castellanos – John Bapst Memorial High School

Animal Sciences – Nutrition & Development
Ist Place – Patrick Wahlig – Falmouth High School
2nd Place – Hannah Dyer – George Stevens Academy
3rd Place – Amelia Jalbert & Carissa Lucas – Falmouth High School

Behavioral Sciences – Cognitive Psychology
Ist Place – Molly Hale – Greely High School
2nd Place – Shruti Joshi, Jack Forester & Ben Sylvester – Falmouth High School
3rd Place – Teagan Blackie – Old Town High School

Behavioral Sciences – Sociology & Mental Health
Ist Place – Isabel Harkins – Boothbay Region High School
2nd Place – Iann Leigh – Bangor High School
3rd Place – Faith Foster – Nokomis Regional High School

Biomedical & Health Sciences
Ist Place – Ijeoma Obi – Bangor High School
2nd Place – Arsh Agnihotri – Falmouth High School
3rd Place – Joshua Bohm – Bangor High School

Chemistry
Ist Place – Ogechi Obi – Bangor High School
2nd Place – Erin McCarthy & Meaghan Caron – Bangor High School
3rd Place – Naomi Noack – Bangor High School

Computer Science & Mathematics
Ist Place – Micah Pietraho – Brunswick High School
2nd Place – Nhan Ngo & Simon Socolow – Bangor High School
3rd Place – Cuthbert Steadman, Graham Glover & Beckett Mundell-Wood – Bangor High School

Engineering
Ist Place – Vetri Vel – Bangor High School
2nd Place – Oscar Hennin – Morse High School
3rd Place – Minal Iftikhar – Bangor High School

Environmental Sciences & Engineering
Ist Place – Leila Davids – Bangor High School
2nd Place – Quinn DAlessio – Bangor High School
3rd Place – Rowan Andrews – Bangor High School

Environmental Sciences – Water Quality
Ist Place – Jordyn Miller – Bangor High School
2nd Place – McKayla Kendall – Bangor High School
3rd Place – Rain Bugado – Noble High School

Materials Science
Ist Place – Jaylee Rice – Nokomis Regional High School
2nd Place – Ariel Larrabee – Hancock County Technical Center
3rd Place – Payton Ward – Islesboro Central School

Microbiology
Ist Place – Melissa Tian – Bangor High School
2nd Place – Linh Nguyen – Deering High School
3rd Place – Emma Markowitz – Boothbay Region High School

Plant Sciences
Ist Place – Amara Ifeji – Bangor High School
2nd Place – Nicholas Geiser – Bangor High School
3rd Place – Hannah Dunn – Bangor High School

Experiential Awards

This is our second year of partnering with local educational organizations to provide STEM summer camp opportunities to science fair participants.

Acadia Institute of Oceanography
Scholarship to attend their two-week Advanced Marine Science Camp Program.
Hannah Dyer – George Stevens Academy

Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership
Scholarship to attend their two-week High School Advanced Marine Biology Program.
Meaghan Caron – Bangor High School

Scholarships

This is our fourth year of partnering with colleges and universities to provide scholarships to science fair participants. The total monetary value of these scholarships is over $800,000.

College of the Atlantic
Aniela Holtrop – Maine Coast Waldorf School
Ariel Larrabee – Hancock County Technical Center

Husson University
Meaghan Caron – Bangor High School
Ariel Larrabee – Hancock County Technical Center
Alexandria Morgan – Washington Academy
Patrick Wahlig – Falmouth High School
Wade Wahlig – Falmouth High School

Saint Joseph’s College
Owen Arsenault – Noble High School
Natalie Shields – Medomak Valley High School

University of Maine
Meaghan Caron – Bangor High School
Hannah Dunn – Bangor High School
Nicholas Geiser – Bangor High School
Matthew Hafener – John Bapst Memorial High School
Grace Kessler – Maine Coast Waldorf School
Rachel Kingsley – South Portland High School
Ariel Larrabee – Hancock County Technical Center
Alexander Maker – Washington Academy
Alexandria Morgan – Washington Academy
Lilian Nowak – Bangor High School
Swetha Palaniappan – Cape Elizabeth High School
Vetri Vel – Bangor High School

University of Maine at Augusta
Alexandria Morgan – Washington Academy
Wade Wahlig – Falmouth High School

University of New England
Beau Briggs – Nokomis Regional High School
Jenna Drake – John Bapst Memorial High School
Marian Easton – Nokomis Regional High School
Josephine Ek – Robert W. Traip Academy
Natalie Shields – Medomak Valley High School

University of Southern Maine
Josephine Ek – Robert W. Traip Academy
Adam Taddia – Baxter Academy for Technology and Science

Special Awards

American Meteorological Society Award
Naomi Noack – Bangor High School
Chloe Grant, Addison Bracken & Rachel Kingsley – South Portland High School,
Ogechi Obi – Bangor High School
Melissa Tian – Bangor High School

Association for Women Geoscientists Award
Ginny Hunt – Bangor High School
Jordyn Miller – Bangor High School

Community Innovation Award
Isaac Burtis – Brunswick High School

JAX Promising Project Award
Margaret Kastelein – Lincoln Academy
Anthony Ayer – Harpswell Coastal Academy
Jett Lindelof – Islesboro Central School
Aleah Sebrey – Medomak Valley High School
Hazel Van Dis – Islesboro Central School

Naval Science Award
Sydney Sheehan – Old Town High School
Vetri Vel – Bangor High School
Nathan Chatterton – Boothbay Region High School
Oscar Hennin – Morse High School

Reach Award
Kylie Brown – Boothbay Region High School
Collin Peterson – Islesboro Central School
Thomas DiPhilippo – South Portland High School
Elizabeth Chattley – Hancock County Technical Center
Adam Nussbaum – Brunswick High School

Stockholm Junior Water Prize
Jordyn Miller – Bangor High School
Rain Bugado – Noble High School
McKayla Kendall – Bangor High School
Mia Wang – Gould Academy
Amber Halligan – Medomak Valley High School
Liulu Yue – Gould Academy

U.S. Agency for International Development Award
Amara Ifeji – Bangor High School
Ogechi Obi – Bangor High School