The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation and the American Farm Bureau Federation are honored to have awarded the achievements of the 2011 $5,000 Agriscience Student's Award Columbus Scholar:

Laura Lane

Senior
Aztec High School
Aztec, New Mexico

Laura is a 2011 high school graduate. Following graduation she relocated to Las Cruses where she works at New Mexico State University with the Ecology and Nematology department through an REU grant that employs undergraduate students.

Her love of science inspired her project to tackle indicators of soil ecosystem health for Oil and Gas reclamation. One out of every three abandoned wellsites does not reestablish plant biodiversity, leaving thousands of acres of undesirable soil that cannot support grazing. Her four years of research took her to the International Science and Engineering Fair three times; most recently she received a grand prize award of third in the category of Environmental Management.

Laura worked with Habitat for Humanity, and last summer went to Guatemala on a build. In the Fall she plans to attend New Mexico Tech to study Pre-Medical; and major in Biochemistry or Chemical Engineering. After her undergraduate studies, her dream is to attend Medical school and become a trauma doctor.

The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation and the American Farm Bureau Federation are honored to have awarded the achievements of the 2011 $5,000 Agriscience Student's Award Columbus Scholar:

Bhiravi Rathinasabapathi

Senior
Eastside High School
Gainesville, Florida

Bhiravi Rathinasabapathi is a student who has spent most of her life in Gainesville, Florida. Her interests include science, service and literature. She developed an interest in science at an early age, starting with an elementary school science project on soft rot in potatoes. Over the years, she has studied various topics in plant biology, including the genetics of high-temperature stress tolerance.

She is currently researching the biofortification of crops with iron. Biofortification is the breeding or genetic modification of plants to increase their nutrient content. Bhiravi is examining the effects of the overexpression of a ferritin gene on plants’ iron content and biomasses. This research may eventually lead to an iron-biofortified crop. Such a crop would combat anemia, which affects an estimated two billion people worldwide. For her research, she was selected as a semifinalist in the Intel Science Talent Search and has received various awards at regional and state levels.

Bhiravi has been involved in many other activities during her high school years. She volunteered at a hospital and started a club to support Room to Read, an organization that provides educational resources to children in developing countries. Her interests in English led her to become president of her school’s creative writing club and a member of the National English Honor Society. She is also a National Merit Scholar. Bhiravi will continue her education at the University of California, Berkeley in the Fall.

The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation and the American Farm Bureau Federation are honored to have awarded the achievements of the 2011 $5,000 Agriscience Student's Award Columbus Scholar:

Stephen Bethel

Senior
Lake Brantley High School
Altamonte Springs, Florida

Stephen recently graduated from Lake Brantley High school in Altamonte Springs, Florida. His research, Evaluation of Ubiquitin Promoter Expression Abilities for Potential Use in Transgenic Grape Vine (Vitis vinifera), explored consumer-friendly genetic alternatives to replace viral DNA currently used in genetically modified produce. His love of math and science, and his research in plant genetics has opened up a world of opportunities for him.

Stephen has traveled throughout the country presenting his work and winning awards at State, national, and international levels. His journeys have taken him to several national research centers where he has been able to view and discuss current trends in exploration with some of the nation’s leaders in science research. One particular highlight included meeting Nobel Laureate, Dr. Martin Chalfie, a biological sciences researcher who first demonstrated the value of GFP, a luminous genetic tag that Stephen used in his work. Meeting national and world renowned scientists and discussing his research with them has fostered his passion.

In the Fall, Stephen will start at the University of Florida Honors Program in Aerospace Engineering. He intends to pursue undergraduate research opportunities at UF, with his ultimate goal of joining the government research and development community in sight.