"2026 WESEF Award Winners"

Senior Keira Borello won the Environmental Perspiration Award ($100) for perseverance and dedication in conducting field work in the environment. She conducted her original research “Investigating Natural Post-Release Dispersal of Laricobius nigrinus, a Biological Control Agent of the Invasive Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, Using a Novel Passive vs. Active Survey Tool” at Mianus River Gorge in Bedford, NY.

Senior Tycho Force won 2nd Place in Animal Sciences ($75) and a WESEF Grand Prize as one of the top 20 overall scoring projects (out of 827!) that won a spot at the world’s largest high school STEM competition, the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). Tycho will now compete against 1,700 regional science fair winners from over 60 countries in the "Olympics of Science Fairs" during an all-expense-paid week in Phoenix, Arizona in May. He conducted his original research “Sound Check: A Multi-Year Acoustic Recording Assessment of Avian Biodiversity in a Northeast Hemlock Forest vs. Wildfire Impacts, Meteorological Conditions and Geospatial Patterns” at Mianus River Gorge in Bedford, NY.

Senior Nareh Hovsepyan won 2nd Place in Computer Science ($75). She conducted her original research “Decoding Wildlife Risks: A Novel Multivariate Time Series Forecasting Approach for Predicting Wildlife Collision Danger Using High-Dimensional Data on Environmental and Infrastructural Features” at NYU in New York, NY. 

Junior Nathaniel Nolan won 4th Place in Cellular and Molecular Biology ($25). He conducted his original research “Toward Hearing Restoration: Investigating Regeneration of Inner Ear Hair Cells by Inhibiting Dkk1 to Amplify Wnt Signaling in the Zebrafish Lateral Line” at Pace University in Pleasantville, NY.

Sophomore Gabe Pardo won the Teatown Young Environmentalist Award for outstanding projects that aim to protect natural habitats and/or ecosystems ($50). He conducted his original research “Groundwork for Climate Action: Evaluating Carbon Sequestration Potential in Wetlands vs. Meadows Using Bulk Density, Organic Matter, and Nitrate/Phosphate Concentrations as Indicators of Soil Health” at Teatown Lake Reservation in Ossining, NY.

Junior Yash Parikh won the Society for In Vitro Biology Award for 11th grade students with outstanding research in plant or animal in vitro biology or tissue culture (certificate). He conducted his original research “Targeting the Npy+ Cortico-Brainstem Circuit: A Novel Pathway for Motor System Repair After Central Nervous System Injury” at the Burke Neurological Institute in White Plains, NY.

Junior Logan Piñeiro won 1st Place in Neuroscience ($100). He conducted his original research “Alteration of Macrophage Behavior as a Novel Treatment for Peripheral Nerve Injury: Reversing Cell Degeneration Through Inhibition of CD163 Expression in Dorsal Root Ganglia” at the Burke Neurological Institute in White Plains, NY.

Senior Christina Rodrigues won 4th Place in Neuroscience ($25). She conducted her original research “A Novel Rat Model of CMT4 Peripheral Neuropathy? Investigating Calcium Dysregulation in Dorsal Root Ganglia with GDAP1 Gene Deletion” at the Burke Neurological Institute in White Plains, NY.

Senior Elizabeth Singh won the Innovations in Biological Sciences Research Award for innovative projects in Medicine & Health, Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Computational Biology/Bioinformatics and Neuroscience ($25). She conducted her original research “A Novel Epigenetic Pathway to Reversing Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension? Investigating the Regulating Role of UHRF1 in Smooth Muscle Cells” at New York Medical College in Valhalla, NY.

Junior Oliver Wu won the Rising Scholars Award for outstanding 10th and 11th grade projects in Mathematics, Plant, Animal and Behavioral Sciences ($50). He conducted his original research “Forecasting Local Recessions With a Novel Leading Indicator Using Probabilistic and Logistic Regression Models of Granular Data” at the CME Group in New York, NY.

Finally, the Westlake Science Research Program won the Best WESEF Forms and Paperwork Award for the school with the most organized and accurate paperwork ($200 for the research program).