Jack Detweiler has been a member of the Rotary Club of Harrisburg for 27 years and recalls working on or chairing the Club’s Ecology Committee for many of those years.  Annually, he has coordinated the Club’s judging and awarding of a prize for students winning the Capital Area Science and Engineering Fair (CASEF).
 
According to Detweiler, “Our committee members are asked to serve as judges for student entries from many area schools.  In a typical year, we can receive 10 to 20 presentations to review.  CASEF provides a scoring guide to provide consistency of presentation quality.”
 
CASEF is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership organization and a PA EITC Innovative Educational Program initiative.  For these competitions, CASEF follows performance standards of the Society for Science and the Public (ISEF) with a goal focused on promoting the understanding and appreciation of science.  That organization sees the critical role science and engineering play in our society: to inform, educate, and inspire.
 
Because of Covid issues it was no surprise the 2021 CASEF student competition was virtual. Instead of live presentations that year, competitors submitted short videos.  CASEF participants submitted their projects to a centralized web.  Detweiler says, “We are in the Special Award Category for Life Science and present a $750 check to a student winning in the Senior Division.  Projects in 2022 were submitted virtually and live.  Our committee again reviewed them virtually, which actually allows more time to accurately review the projects.”
 
A Wide Range of Projects
 
According to Valerie Knowles the CASEF Director, “Recent events confirm that it is very evident that we need to be encouraging young scientists to find solutions to life’s greatest challenges and prepare a healthy and sustainable future.”
 
Detweiler believes he’s seen, “Projects ranging from beetles to stream water studies.  He noted, “The 2020 winner of the Rotary Ecology Award was Kathryn Miller, a sophomore at Carlisle HS. She demonstrated how Oxbenzone in sunscreen effects and eventually kills coral polyps. She did this project in the lab with actual coral polyps. Because of the pandemic, she presented her project to our Club via Zoom.  In 2019 our winner was Adele Shirmer, a senior at West Perry HS. Her project was "Beetles Beware - Effects of Various Biopesticides on Callosobruchus Maculatus Behavior."
 
Adele went on to Colorado State University to major in Fishery Management.  She says that with the help of the RCH award she was offered a scholarship as an Honors Undergraduate Research Scholar allowing her to afford to attend CSU.  She has been assisting a graduate student with his study on Walleye bioenergetics and is working on local employment as a fishery technician to start her career.
 
Our winner in 2018 was April Pavonka, a senior at Camp Hill HS. Her project was "Optimizing Hydroponic Plant Growth and Energy Usage with LED Spectral Manipulation". She was also our winner in 2016 when she was a sophomore with another project.
 
Our winner in 2021 was Samual Koda from Hershey High School with his hands-on project that addressed an invasive ecological problem in his neighborhood entitled “What is the best Spotted Lanternfly Trap?”
 
Our winners in 2022 were Aiden Callahan and Annabel Hathaway from Harrisburg Academy with the project, “A Comparison of Eco-Friendly and Green Products’ Effects on the Environment.”  It is the first time that we have ever given the award to a “team.”  They were both sophomores.  They put in an amazing amount of work on their project, were scrupulous in following the scientific method and their mathematical documentation was quite rigid.  It was an interesting outcome that “Dawn” detergent turned out less toxic in many cases than the so-called “green” detergents that were tested.”
 
Says Detweiler, “Some of our winners actually did their experiments in various creeks and streams in the Central PA area, such as Madeline Grossman, a senior at Cumberland Valley HS in 2017 with her project, “'It's All "Creek" to me, or Kyle Wise a senior at Carlisle HS with his project, "D-Netting vs. Leaf Bagging; Which Macro Invertebrate Collection is the most accurate."
 
Most notably he adds, “One of our previous winners was Eric Horstick from East Pennsboro HS. His project was how Moss could be used to temper the effects of Acid Mine Drainage. He credits Rotary with inspiring him in his future studies. He went on to get a PHD and currently works for the National Institute of Health.”