Update: Aug. 25, 2017
Great article by participant Edwin Su, grade 11, on what he gleaned from this great program:
http://inianislandsinstitute.org/2017/08/04/harker-school-to-inian-islands-institute/
Update July 13, 2017
While in Alaska, the Human Ecology class members continued to explore the issues they had been learning about in California, with an Alaskan focus. “We learned about fisheries and energy issues and had lots of opportunities to connect with nature,” noted Kate Schafer, who, with fellow upper school science teacher Chris Spenner, is leading the class.
Highlights included a hike to the outflow of the Mendenhall Glacier, a morning spent with a Tlingit tribal elder at the Alaska State Museum and a day spent on Glacier Bay with ample wildlife sightings including grizzly bears, mountain goats, whales, Steller sea lions, puffins, marbled murrelets and many other species of birds, and spectacular views of the Margerie Glacier.
“Students really appreciated the friendliness and freedom they experienced during their time spent in the small town of Gustavus,” said Schafer. “While there, we met with the author of a book we read about John Muir, did some trail maintenance with some local high school students and visited the hydropower plant that provides electricity for the town.”
The course culminated in four nights out at the Hobbit Hole on the Inian Islands, where the group, isolated from the internet and outside world, really got to connect with nature. Students gave up their phones during the time at the Hobbit Hole as a way to be better present in the moment and appreciate the experience of being at such an isolated place.
“Overall, the course was an amazing experience for all,” said Schafer. “Students will be sharing their final projects at an event in October and some will also be traveling to New Orleans in December to share what they’ve learned with a wider audience at the American Geophysical Union conference.” Go Nature Eagles!
June 27, 2017
Harker’s Human Ecology students sojourned last week to Bodega Bay for a stay at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Lab to learn about marine science, especially in the context of fisheries and the impact of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems. The group, led by Harker upper school science teachers Kate Schafer and Chris Spenner, conducted research on conditions in the tide pools and presented results to a group of students visiting from the Lawrence Hall of Science.
Students in the Human Ecology: Our Place in Nature class spend 10 days in California exploring our place in nature, not just as scientists, but as policymakers, journalists, artists and concerned citizens. They then spend 10 days in southeast Alaska, in and around Glacier Bay, exploring the same themes in a different place and culture, among different people.
After Bodega Bay, the group headed to the Pescadero area, where they camped under the redwoods at Butano State Park and continued their exploration of nature and human impact. While there, in addition to experiencing the beauty of the place, the group learned about the complex issues of land use and farming in areas with vital habitat for salmon and other endangered species.
They studied the issue of sustainable farming, both from the perspective of sustaining the land and providing sustainable conditions for people working on the land. The group also visited Pie Ranch and baked some delicious strawberry rhubarb pies with ingredients harvested from the farm, then met with Ben Ranz from an organization in Pescadero called Puente. This group is dedicated to providing support to the San Mateo coastal community members, many of whom are immigrant farm workers from Mexico. The group is now in Alaska.
“The trip was amazing and we are heading off on our first full day in Juneau,” said Schafer. We’ll be updating this story as the reports come in!
Harker Preschool’s transitional kindergarten (TK) class just completed an exciting research project on the behavior and habitat of pill bugs (often referred to as roly-polys, these are the little grey bugs that roll into a ball when startled). Two students, Daniel Kroll and Dylan Ruffy, began studying the bugs on the playground in September, which led to the long-term study. Nina Smith, assistant teacher, guided the project for many months, involving the other students and supporting the researchers as they traveled the road of discovery.
Classmates Rishaan Lawande and Aisha Agrawal created a small terrarium to determine whether they could keep pill bugs in the classroom. After the death of the first pill bugs, students discovered that pill bugs need water in order to live. Rishaan and Aisha kept a log book in which they noted how much water they added to the habitat each week.
Students Laura Zhang and Anaika Verma collected data on how many pill bugs were in the habitat and discovered that the number kept increasing, so they concluded that the pill bugs were having babies. Laura and Anaika researched the pill bug life cycle.
Natalie Uhlig and Vedika Deoras made observations and recorded data about pill bug behavior.
As the pill bug colony grew larger, the students made larger terrariums. The students were eager to share their observations, research and discoveries, so they presented their observations, log books, book research and portable pill bug habitat last week to students in the preschool’s Acorn cottage.
The students’ paths of discovery were a lot of fun!
“I like the roly-polys,” said Clara Yu-Svensson, age 4.
“I found a worm,” added Adam Shimelfarb, age 4.
“[The habitat] is very wet!” noted Fiona Yan, age 4.
“The magnifier makes [the pill bug] look bigger,” observed Rohan Radhakrishna, age 4.
And the researchers appreciated their audience! “[The Acorns] were good listeners,” said Rishaan, one of the TK researchers.
Congratulations to Anooshree Sengupta, grade 11, who will present her research at the American Medical Informatics Association’s 40th annual symposium, to be held Nov. 12-16 in Chicago. Each year, AMIA selects just five individually researched high school student projects to present at the symposium. Sengupta, who conducted her research this past summer at the University of California, San Francisco, will attend the event with upper school computer science chair Eric Nelson.
Over the summer, senior Alexis Gauba secured an internship with The Hive, a company that “incubates, funds and launches data-driven business,” Gauba said. It was her second time interning for the company, the first being in summer 2015 as a data science intern. She was invited back this past summer for a paid position as a data engineering intern.
Gauba’s primary responsibility at The Hive was to work on Synapse, “the company’s large-scale architecture for data processing applications that all of the startups use,” Gauba said. “A typical day consisted of coding, meeting with my boss, the CTO, lunch with co-workers on University Avenue, and the occasional UX or marketing meeting when I was working on side projects for different teams at the company.” She also had the opportunity to attend Think Tank meetups and hear from industry leaders on a variety of topics.
In addition to providing valuable industry experience, the internship gave Gauba the chance to see how the concepts she learned at school apply to the business world. “Having the opportunity to experience a work environment while still in high school provided truly valuable exposure into how CS processes function in industry, and of the workplace in general,” she said. “Working on my main project, I had to take the strong base of concepts I learned in AP CS and Data Structures and build upon that, learning about new ideas and technologies quickly, and then applying them.”
The internship was also a great networking opportunity, and helped Gauba grow her understanding of the funding process from the perspective of both the venture and the startup. “Working over the summer not only gave me a unique perspective into the world of CS, as I was able to work with cutting-edge technologies, but also insight into the workplace environment, allowing me to understand the career path I might want to pursue in college and beyond,” she said.
The Acorn Cottage at Harker Preschool raised a swarm of Painted Lady butterflies over the past few weeks, patiently observing and documenting their progress as they went through the life cycle: larva, caterpillar, resting caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly. The activity came to a wonderful ending, as students cheered each of the five butterflies as they flew off to find nectar and continue their journey.
The Harker community came together on Saturday, April 9, for the 2016 Harker Research Symposium, which both celebrated the achievements of Harker’s research program and gave visitors a look into what scientific research has made and will make possible for future generations.
More than 700 people attended this year’s symposium, sitting in on breakout sessions by Harker student researchers and listening to talks by the illustrious keynote speakers. The first morning keynote speaker was Omer Artun, the founder and CEO of AgilOne Predictive Marketing Cloud, who discussed the ways predictive analytics are used in the formation and implementation of personalized marketing strategies. He also spoke about how to improve customer acquisition and growth through the use of machine-learning technologies.
Entrepreneur Brienne Ghafourifar, who at 17 was the youngest college graduate ever to raise $1 million in venture funding, was the second morning keynote speaker. She shared her thoughts on how people’s digital connection to one another is now an essential part of our lives rather than a luxury enjoyed only by a fortunate segment of the population. Data, she said, not only connects us with each other but with the world around us. She talked about what she called the “intelligence of things” and how it will result in huge market value creation. Prior to her talk, Ghafourifar engaged in a Q-and-A session with students from Harker’s Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (WiSTEM) club and several middle school girls.
Shortly after lunch, attendees gathered in the Nichols Hall auditorium to hear a talk by Alan Malek ’05, the 2016 alumnus keynote speaker. Malek, who received a B.S. in mathematics and an M.S. in electrical engineering from Stanford University, is now working on his Ph.D. in computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He discussed some of the challenges presented by the immensity of the data being produced by increased connectivity. He also offered some insight into his life as a Ph.D. student, as well as what students can look forward to in graduate school.
The afternoon keynote speaker was Jeffrey Rothschild, longtime serial entrepreneur and VP of infrastructure engineering at Facebook from 2005-2015, who now sits on the board of directors at Primary Data, Interana and Lytmus. Rothschild talked about the influence of “big data” and how it can be leveraged to assist in better, faster decision-making without the need to compare subjective opinions. He explained how this could have a significant impact on the cost of delivering quality health care, including improving hospital care and clinical decisions.
Throughout the day, attendees stopped by the Nichols Hall atrium to take a peek at the many exhibits brought to the symposium by this year’s corporate exhibitors, including Google, Lockheed Martin, Nvidia and more.
One of the more popular attractions was Google’s cardboard virtual reality platform. Using smartphones encased in cardboard as makeshift VR headsets, attendees gained first-person looks at various spots throughout the world, while a Google representative marked spots on the virtual environment to guide users where to look.
In the Nichols Hall rotunda, STEM buddies activities brought younger and older students together. Lower school students marveled at the heat signatures created by their handprints and bracelets that changed color when exposed to ultraviolet light.
Although threatened by inclement weather, the afternoon drone demonstration had visitors looking skyward as the machines soared over the upper school campus.
Over at the upper school gymnasium, middle and upper school students gave poster presentations of research they’d conducted. Many were heard excitedly going through the details of their work to the attendees who’d stopped to listen.
Harker Aquila, the journalism department’s student news site, recently published a story about Harker’s new peer-reviewed student science journal, Horizon, currently a work in progress. Read the full story at Harker Aquila!
UPDATE: Two students, Evani Radiya-Dixit and David Zhu, both grade 11, have advanced as regional finalists in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology! Of the 17 California finalists, 10 are from the Bay Area, while seven are from Southern California. Only two other schools in the state had two finalists. New York State also had 17 finalists, followed by Texas with 11.
The full list of regional finalists can be found here. The Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology is considered the nation’s premier research competition for high school students. A total of 97 regional finalists from throughout the U.S. now advance to one of six regional competitions held over three consecutive weekends in November at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Nov. 6-7); Georgia Institute of Technology (Nov. 6-7); University of Notre Dame (Nov. 13-14); University of Texas at Austin (Nov. 13-14); California Institute of Technology (Nov. 20-21); and Carnegie Mellon University (Nov. 20-21).
Winners of the regional events advance to the National Finals at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., Dec. 6-8, where $500,000 in scholarships will be awarded, including two top prizes of $100,000.
The competition awards a $1,000 scholarship to each regional finalist, in addition to one $3,000 prize to an individual winner and a $6,000 prize to a team winner at each regional competition.
A complete list of finalists and their projects is available at www.siemens-foundation.org preceding each regional event.
Oct. 16, 2015 The Siemens Foundation announced today that 13 Harker upper school students had been named semifinalists in this year’s Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology. Harker had the most semifinalists of any California school.
This year’s semifinalists are:
Vivek Bharadwaj, Rishabh Chandra, Anthony Luo and Jonathan Ma, grade 12; Rishab Gargeya, Shasvat Jawahar, Alex Mo, Evani Radiya-Dixit, Venkat Sankar, Manan Shah, Arjun Subramaniam and David Zhu, grade 11; and Brandon Mo, grade 10.
A total of 466 semifinalists were chosen from the 1,700 submissions received by Siemens. These students are now eligible to become regional finalists and travel to Washington, D.C., for the finals in December.
Update: Harker has a third student in the Broadcom MASTERS science competition! Cameron Jones, who started 9th grade at Harker this year, is a semi-finalist along with classmates Anjay Saklecha and Krish Kapadia.
Jones graduated from Corte Madera School last June and his project involves infusing fine carbon powder into rubber bands so they can be used to measure biometrics. Check out his story in The Almanac. Best of luck to all three boys in the finalist judging, tomorrow! Go Harker Researchers!
Anjay Saklecha and Krish Kapadia, both grade 9, were selected as semifinalists in the 2015 Broadcom MASTERS, a program of Society for Science & the Public. The pair were nominated after winning first place last spring in the medicine/health/gerontology category of the Synopsys Silicon Valley Science & Technology Championship for their project, “Determining the Efficacy of Different Methods to Assess the Level of Dehydration Using Human Saliva.”
“As a Broadcom MASTERS semifinalist, you have already proven your ability to succeed in these subjects, which will lead you to an exciting career in any field,” noted Allie Stifel, Broadcom MASTERS program manager.
The next step in the Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering Rising Stars) takes place on Sept. 2, when 30 finalists will be announced from among the 300 semifinalists. Finalists will attend the Broadcom MASTERS Finals Week competition from Oct. 1-7, 2015 here in Silicon Valley, where they will present their research and compete in hands-on challenges for top prizes, including funds to attend a STEM summer camp, iPads and the Samueli Prize of $25,000.
The Harker Research Symposium celebrated its 10th year on April 11, as people from across the Harker community visited the upper school campus to see the work of the school’s dedicated research community.
Harker’s hardworking WiSTEM (Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) club began organizing the symposium at the start of the school year. Anita Chetty, US Science Dept. Chair and WiSTEM advisor inaugurated and has overseen the event since its inception a decade ago.
“It’s a good event,” said member Anushka Das, grade 12. “We have really great keynote speakers and a lot of people in the audience (for talks). The students, families and parents come to see everyone’s kids. It’s a tight community.”
Middle and upper school students occupied venues throughout campus for most of the day, giving poster presentations in the gym and holding breakout sessions in various rooms at Nichols Hall, often with members of the scientific community as their audience. Presenters included senior Andrew Jin, a national winner in this year’s Intel Science Talent Search; Intel finalists Steven Wang and Rohith Kuditipudi, both grade 12; and Siemens Competition regional finalists Sadhika Malladi, Jonathan Ma and Vineet Kosaraju, all grade 11.
The Nichols Hall Atrium was the busiest spot for much of the day, with corporate exhibitors attracting throngs of attendees, who wandered from station to station trying out high-powered microscopes and virtual reality gadgets, and even jumping behind the wheel of Tesla vehicles. “The kids have great microscopy questions,” said Technical Instruments representative April Myles.
Outside Nichols Hall, the all-girl Infinities robotics team drove their robot, which boasts a holonomic drive system, multiple lift systems and passive intakes, plus rubber bands and string. The team is advancing to a world tournament this year.
Chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine wowed a lunchtime crowd of at least 250 people with flames and the shattering of liquid-nitrogen frozen bananas and apples. “He’s playing with his food,” one girl in the audience joked to her friend.
This year featured yet another impressive lineup of keynote speakers. The first, climate scientist Dr. James McClintock’s “From Penguins to Plankton” talk, filled Nichols Auditorium almost to capacity. McClintock is an Endowed University Professor of Polar and Marine Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. With more than 235 scientific publications and 14 expeditions to Antarctica in his career, he is considered a leading authority on Antarctic marine chemical ecology. “I’m very impressed with Harker,” said McClintock. “The students are very capable and excited and, to be honest, like college students. I’ve had several discussions with students at a level you’d expect in college.”
Another featured speaker was Dr. Suhas Patil, founder of top semiconductor company Cirrus Logic and creator of the fabless model of semiconductor manufacturing. Also among his many achievements, he co-founded the Indus Entrepreneurs, which has become the largest nonprofit in the world for budding entrepreneurs.
Harker alumna Shabnam Aggarwal ’03, now the CEO of KleverKid, shared the story of her journey from the wealth of Wall Street to the poverty of Cambodia, where she taught English to girls who had fled the world of sex trafficking. Later, in India, she explored various ways to combat illiteracy, which eventually led her to found her latest venture, KleverKid. Prior to her talk, Aggarwal spoke to a group of grade 5 students from Rocketship Si Se Puede Academy, answering their questions about the importance of technology, education and women’s issues in India.
“We have such great kids involved in science, and this is a nice opportunity for them to share with our community what they’re interested in,” said Diane Main, Harker director of Learning, Innovation and Design. “Last night the orchestra performed, today the sciences perform.”