Many young people often feel there's not much they can do to help wildlife. But two local students have shown that there are opportunities to help right here in San Diego! Last week, two enterprising young people received the prestigious Zoological Society of San Diego's Award for Outstanding Achievement. Their projects were selected from more than 800 entries at the Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair for meeting our criteria of conservation.

During the award ceremony, held at the San Diego Zoo on April 26, Khoa Tran and Katie Altobello Czescik presented their science projects to Zoological Society staff, board members, teachers, mentors, and family members. They were awarded a special plaque, a $100 scholarship, and a one-year membership to the Society. (They are pictured above with Victoria Garrison, associated director of education at the Zoo, and Nan Katona, member of the Society's Board of Trustees.)

Khoa is a senior at High Tech High School. He got the idea for his project, partially titled " DNA Barcoding and Bushmeat," from an article he read about bushmeat in National Geographic magazine. (Bushmeat is the illegal slaughter and trafficking of wild animals for food. Some species have already been hunted to extinction and many more are at great risk.) Tons of bushmeat are shipped overseas from Africa each year. He wondered if genetics studies could be used to solve this real-world issue. Khoa worked with a mentor from the Salk Institute and our own CRES Genetics Division staff, then had fellow students try his technique out on ostrich, beef, and turkey jerky samples! Read more about this innovative study. This impressive young man also won a national BioGENEius Award, presented by the Biotechnology Institute, for his project.

Katie is an eighth-grader at The Rhoades School. Her project was titled " Danger in Our Local Wetlands: Contaminants and Pesticides, Oh My!" She explained her concern for the lagoon areas near her home in Del Mar and how she wondered about agricultural runoff affecting the fish and aquatic birds, especially pelicans. This was Katie's second time as a Zoo Science Fair winner! Last year, her project presentation so impressed us that she was encouraged to join the Zoo's Zoo Corps, a program for teens having an interest in conservation. Katie is still involved in Zoo Corps, sharing her affinity for wildlife and conservation issues with Zoo visitors.

I was also impressed with these students and hope they will continue to find ways to help wildlife, both near and far!

Debbie Andreen is the San Diego Zoo's Web site editor.

Posted in Conservation, Default, General, The Zoo Journal | Link to this post

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