Grand Prize Winners
Investigating the Role of Cancer Treatment in Tumor Progression Using a 3D Type I Collagen Hydrogel Co-Culture Model
Emmeline Whattoff (Native Hawaiian)
Insect Allience
Caytie Couch (Cherokee)
Category Awards
Senior Awards
1st Place
Integrating Management Practices, Adoption Drivers, and Cattle Health Outcomes to Classify Ranching Systems on Oahu: A Mixed-Methods Framework for Informed Decision-Making in Hawaii’s Cattle Industry
Kalei Yoshimura (Native Hawaiian)
Junior Awards
1st Place
The Effects of Water Quality on Largemouth Bass Health and Population in Cherokee Nation Lakes
Liam Andrews, Brayden Howard (Cherokee)
2nd Place
Native Birds vs. Invasive Birds: Who Wins?
Sydney Parker, , Alexandria Salvador, Fox Yamabayashi
(Native Hawaiian)
3rd Place
Neigh-Sty Germs
Tripp Teague (Cherokee)
Behavioral and Social Science
Senior Awards
1st Place
The Bell-to-Bell Policy: A Student-Based Study of Student Impact
Jaelee Patton (Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa)
Junior Awards
1st Place
Feel The Beat
Giana Jones (Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina)
2nd Place
The relationship between humor and death anxiety
Luka Quapaw (Native Hawaiian)
3rd Place
Font Frenzy
Taelynn Cote-Kanning (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe)
Biochemistry
Senior Awards
1st Place
The Effectiveness of Plant Tinctures and Household Condiments on E. coli Growth.
Traian Matsumoto
2nd Place
The effect of removing the roots of three different types of duckweed (Spirodela polyrhiza, Lemna minor, Wolffia Australiana) and its impact on duckweeds mode of remediation
Raelynn Wuollet (Canadian First Nation)
3rd Place
Sugar and Acidity Levels in Popular Energy Drinks
Avah Mora (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara)
Junior Awards
1st Place
Iris vs Awareness
Masey Desjarlais (Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa)
2nd Place
Nature’s Signature
Paislee Marion (Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa)
3rd Place
Berry Sweet Science
Danni Bull Bear, Bella Steele
(Lakota)
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Senior Awards
1st Place
Socioeconomic Determinants of MRSA Bacteremia Burden: A Multimodel Statistical Analysis of Illinois Hospital Data
Hasini Jonnalagedda
2nd Place
Hot Defense: The effect of hot sauce made from peppers with different levels of capsaicin on Lactobacillus acidophilus growth
Peyton Werner
3rd Place
Helpful or Hurtful
KayLee Orender (Quapaw)
Junior Awards
1st Place
The Stomach Ache Behind The Pain Killer
Sophia Azure (Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa)
2nd Place
Basil vs Mint Extractions in Dishwashing Soap
Miley White Bear (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara)
3rd Place
Skip A Beat
Reese Desjarlais (Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa)
Biomedical Engineering
Senior Awards
1st Place
Investigating the Role of Cancer Treatment in Tumor Progression Using a 3D Type I Collagen Hydrogel Co-Culture Model
Emmeline Whattoff (Native Hawaiian)
2nd Place
Bioengineering an Advanced Artificial Pancreas: Building Upon a Closed Loop Feedback Model Through Integration of Stem Cell-Derived Islet Cells for Multihormonal Regulation of Endogenous Glucose
Natavianna Dodge (Navajo, Zia Pueblo)
3rd Place
The Development of a Low-Cost Wearable Sensor System for the Early Detection of Ataxic Gait Patterns
Sammit Chidambaram
Junior Awards
1st Place
Exploring Engineering Through Technology: Designing a Heart Rate Monitor
Ginger Bigmouth-Franco, Saliegh Enjady
(Mescalero Apache)
Chemistry
Senior Awards
1st Place
Nullifying Nitrosamines: Can the Chemical Components of Natural Antioxidants be Chemically Recreated to Inhibit Carcinogen Formation?
Anvita Parimal, Sia Verma (Jicarilla Apache)
2nd Place
Hydrogel Encapsulation Size Positively Affects the Diffusion Rate of Soluble Blue Dye in Water Using UV-VIS Spectrophotometry
Amaya Anderson (Navajo)
3rd Place
Electrolyte Challenge: Navajo Tea vs. Orange Juice & Sports Drinks
Jayla LaVallie (Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa)
Junior Awards
1st Place
Buffalo Berry Indicator
Allysa Bull Bear, Adrianna Richards
(Lakota)
2nd Place
Testing Nature’s Acidity
Wes Hamley (Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa)
3rd Place
Charged Up
Jayla LaVallie (Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa)
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
Senior Awards
1st Place
A Mechanistic and Biophysical, Equity-Aware Scalp Cooling Model for Patient-Specific Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia Outcomes
Agrini Neekhra
Junior Awards
1st Place
Spot The Bot
LaRee Martin (Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa)
2nd Place
Click to Succeed
LaRee Martin (Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa)
3rd Place
The Invisible Truth Of Images
Kolby Tackett (Chickasaw)
Earth & Environmental Sciences
Senior Awards
1st Place
Contaminated Water in Navajo Communities
Devereux Hicks (Navajo)
2nd Place
Integrated Assessment of Microplastic Contamination from Aquaculture Ponds
Kymrie Eguchi (Native Hawaiian)
3rd Place
The Future of a Greener Planet: Biodegradable Bags
Varun Gurramkonda
Junior Awards
1st Place
PH Levels of H2O on Lumbee Tribal Lands
Canyon Jones (Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina)
2nd Place
Pure Potential
Russell Halvorson (Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa)
3rd Place
Storing renewable energy beneath our feet
Susana Estrada pardo, Joselyn Lopez
Embedded Systems
Senior Awards
1st Place
Is it Reel or Digital: A Study on Audio Quality
Drako Charette (Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa)
Junior Awards
1st Place
CatBot: A 3D-Printed Solution for Pet Care in Remote Communities
Oliver Yazzie (Navajo)
2nd Place
Can I Hack a Smart House
Alana Hughes, Kymber Romines, Peyton Thomas
(Chickasaw)
3rd Place
Optimizing Sump Pump Efficiency: Balancing Battery Life and Flood
Arianna Jim, Caslyn Magruder, Kolten Sanderson
(Chickasaw)
Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design
Senior Awards
1st Place
Jet Wake: The future of Airport Power
Trivid Senthil Venkatesh
2nd Place
Portable Wind-and-Solar Charging System
Katy Davis, Mesa Johnson
(Choctaw)
Junior Awards
1st Place
Wind Power: Generating and Storing Energy
Legend Gardner, Axel Shelton, Emmett Skender
(Chickasaw)
Engineering Technology: Statics and Dynamics
Senior Awards
1st Place
Power A.R.M.O.R (Augmentation, Reinforced, Mobility Operation, Rig) Frame
Kenai Begay (Navajo)
2nd Place
Evaluating Optimal Seawall Designs Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to Develop an Improved Seawall: A Simulation Study and Improvement of Structural Performances for Seawalls in American Samoa
Yuchen Bai (American Samoa)
3rd Place
Built for the Shake
Adelynn Veneno
Junior Awards
1st Place
The Effect of Stick Design on Velocity in Traditional Native American Sports: Stickball Vs. Lacrosse
Audrey Denny (Cherokee)
2nd Place
Gear Ratios
Layton Shawver (Cherokee)
3rd Place
Tate Laducer (Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa)
Environmental Engineering
Senior Awards
1st Place
Creating a Closed Aquaculture System to Grow Limu
Serena Duarte (Native Hawaiian)
2nd Place
No Water, No Life
Adelynn Veneno
3rd Place
LeakSense: Water Leakage Detector With Micro:bit And MIT App Inventor
Evan Zou (American Samoa)
Junior Awards
1st Place
Seed Dart
James Beecroft, Reilly Yamamoto
(Native Hawaiian)
2nd Place
Autonomous Aquatic Garbage Collector: Using Solar Sensors and Servo Motors to Automate Waterway Cleanup
Allee Rolen, Alissa Wigginton
(Choctaw)
3rd Place
Carbon Smart Toys
Darren Goudeau (Dakota)
Materials Science
Senior Awards
1st Place
Novel W-Shaped Kevlar Composites for Ultra-Light NIJ IlA Ballistic Protection Inspired by Lamellar and Cinematic Armor Design
Ji-hoon Choi
2nd Place
Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Surface Design in NASA Spacecraft Engineering: The Effect of Geometry and Microgravity on Landing Dynamics and Crew Safety
Amber Bizardie (Navajo)
3rd Place
Will the different brands of fishing line affect how resistant the line is to breakage?
Carianna Holiday (Laguna Pueblo)
Mathematics
Senior Awards
1st Place
How the Cookie Crumbles
Shasta Doke (Cherokee), Logan Eby (Quapaw)
2nd Place
The Starquilt Top
Amelia Wilkinson (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara)
3rd Place
Insect Allience
Caytie Couch (Cherokee)
Microbiology
Senior Awards
1st Place
Insect Allience
Caytie Couch (Cherokee)
2nd Place
Soil Filtration in DNA Extraction as a Purification Method for Microbial Diversity
Kalena Cardillo
3rd Place
Cancer Gone, Guts Gone: Effects of Cancer Medication on Gut Flora
Raghav Tuppal
Junior Awards
1st Place
Comparative Study of Disinfectants on Bacterial Growth on Basketballs
Brinley Evans (Cherokee)
Physics and Astronomy
Senior Awards
1st Place
The “Sweet Spot” Of A Lacrosse Head
Javin Capella, Sidney Hill Jr.
(Onondaga)
2nd Place
Predictable Laws, Unpredictable Motion: Chaos in a Double Pendulum
Kiara DeChee (Navajo)
3rd Place
Flexibility of a lacrosse stick
Gahowanens Shenandoah, Taheton Sullivan
(Onondaga)
Junior Awards
1st Place
3 layer liquid density
Neysa Mountain, Mylee Yellowbird (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara)
2nd Place
The Angle of Defense
Piper Zaste (Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa)
3rd Place
Magnet Vortexes
Naythan Keezer (White Earth Nation)
Plant Sciences
Senior Awards
1st Place
Evaluating the Anticancer Effects of M?maki Extract on Three Cancer Cell Lines
Saber Holkup
2nd Place
The effect of a Closed Watering System on ocimum basilicum
Ruby Bennett (Hualapi Tribe of Indians)
3rd Place
Saving Seeds, Sustaining Life:
Jeanette Sherwood (Cherokee)
Junior Awards
1st Place
What types of water works best for the Ae’ae plant
Bennett Anderson, Jaxson Cabanting, Tera Owen
(Native Hawaiian)
2nd Place
Investigating Plant Extracts as a Way to Inhibit Weed Seed Germination
Brody Jaworski (Ottowa Tribe of Oklahoma)
3rd Place
From Plant to Bubbles
Naomi Phelps (Lakota)
Robotics and Intelligent Machines
Senior Awards
1st Place
SAR Sentinel 6 Lifeline
Devin Taylor (Cherokee)
2nd Place
Preserving Diné Heritage Through AI: A Computer Vision System for Identifying Sacred Navajo Objects
Joshua Barbone, Raf Deferia
(Navajo)
3rd Place
How Participation in Robotics Helps Native American Students (Rez-Botics)
Miles Begay, Vanisha Tsosie
(Navajo)
Junior Awards
1st Place
Sacred Directions in Flight: Using Robotics and Code to Navigate Indigenous Knowledge Systems
Myles Abeyta, Milicient Ration
(Navajo)
2nd Place
High-Tech Operational Tool for People in Emergencies (H.O.P.E.): AI Driven Search and Navigation Algorithms
Skylar Montalbo (American Samoa)
3rd Place
Comparative Engineering Study of Two Robotic Intake System; Armbot vs Bandit Bot
Coen Lafever (Navajo), Nolen Roybal (Northern Cheyenne)
Software Design
Senior Awards
1st Place
Code, Culture, and Gameplay: Designing an Indigenous-Inspired Arcade Game System
Kylis Chavez (Navajo)
Translational Medical Science
Senior Awards
1st Place
CeCe: A Scalable Machine Learning Framework for the Early Detection of Chemotherapy Induced Cardiotoxicity in Breast Cancer Populations
Sree Jonnavittula
2nd Place
OvaScan: Enhancing Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis with a Radiomic-Stable, Autonomous Deep Learning Pipeline for Scalable On-Device Deployment
Kalena Forman, Aarnav Garg
