Young explorers touch down in New Zealand for adventure of a lifetime
Two young British science students have embarked on a two-week adventure of a lifetime in New Zealand.
James Stefaniak and Elisabeth Muller won the trip as recipients of the Royal Society International Expedition Prize after impressing judges with their BA CREST Award projects at the UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair held in London earlier this year.
The trip, funded and arranged by the Royal Society, will see the travelers visit remote locations in New Zealand. Excursions during the trip include a visit with local scientists to the Wai-O-Tapu geothermal area, famous for its champagne pool, geysers, bubbling mud, steaming ground, expansive vistas, huge volcanic craters and sinter terrace formations.
They will also take a helicopter trip to White Island, New Zealand’s only active marine volcano and perhaps the most accessible on earth. They will make visits to the Royal Society of New Zealand and to the New Zealand Ministry of Research, Science and Technology.
The CREST Award scheme, run by the BA, encourages students to explore the real nature of science, technology, engineering and maths via independent project work. The prize was open to those CREST students who had undertaken a project in the natural sciences and shown a keen understanding of the procedures of good experimentation and evaluation. Winners also needed to be effective communicators and physically fit enough to be able to cope with the activities the prize demands.
Elisabeth Muller was an A-Level student at Bedford High School when she won the award in March and has since started her first term studying Earth Sciences at Oxford University.
Her winning project consisted of research looking at lunar meteorites. She studied two thin sections of a lunar meteorite for 6 weeks using an electron microprobe which gave her chemical data. From this data she was able determine the mineralogy of the meteorite. She found that it was a unique low titanium unbrecciated basalt meteorite which would have come from one of the ancient magma oceans on the moon’s surface.
After completing his A-Levels at Bablake School in Coventry, James Stefaniak has gone on to study Medical Sciences at Cambridge University.
James’ project investigated the safety and performance of an intense pulsed light (IPL) source device used in hair removal and skin treatments. Under the guidance of his mentor James was able to construct, calibrate and use a system of ultraviolet passband filters to measure the ultraviolet spectral content and pulse profile of a specific IPL device, the Lumenis One. Amazingly, at the time James carried out his investigation, any regulation guidelines uniquely relating to the safe manufacture and use of IPLs were still only in their draft stage.
Commenting on his project and beginning the trip to New Zealand, James Stefaniak said:
'When I heard that I had won a prize, I couldn't believe it. When I heard I was going to New Zealand, I really couldn't believe it! Now I just can't wait to begin this fantastic once in a lifetime adventure.
Best of all is the fact that hospital physicists will continue to use my UVR spectrometer to monitor IPL safety.'
Equally as excited as James, Elizabeth Muller added:
'I am really looking forward to this trip; it’s going to be absolutely amazing. I am certain that it will benefit my studies in Geology after my first term at University. Going to New Zealand really is fulfilling a dream. I thoroughly enjoyed my project and have benefited immensely from this taste of research. I hope to continue research full time after my degrees.'
Charlotte Thorley, the Royal Society’s Education Outreach Manager, will be accompanying the students on their trip. Remarking on the students, she said:
'Elisabeth and James are shining examples of what the UK’s next generation of scientists will look like. They are bright, enquiring and full of ideas. The Royal Society is delighted to give them a taste of the sort of adventure that a life in science can offer.'
You can follow James and Elizabeth’s trip via this Royal Society blog.
Find out more about:
James Stefaniak and Elisabeth Muller won the trip as recipients of the Royal Society International Expedition Prize after impressing judges with their BA CREST Award projects at the UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair held in London earlier this year.
The trip, funded and arranged by the Royal Society, will see the travelers visit remote locations in New Zealand. Excursions during the trip include a visit with local scientists to the Wai-O-Tapu geothermal area, famous for its champagne pool, geysers, bubbling mud, steaming ground, expansive vistas, huge volcanic craters and sinter terrace formations.
They will also take a helicopter trip to White Island, New Zealand’s only active marine volcano and perhaps the most accessible on earth. They will make visits to the Royal Society of New Zealand and to the New Zealand Ministry of Research, Science and Technology.
The CREST Award scheme, run by the BA, encourages students to explore the real nature of science, technology, engineering and maths via independent project work. The prize was open to those CREST students who had undertaken a project in the natural sciences and shown a keen understanding of the procedures of good experimentation and evaluation. Winners also needed to be effective communicators and physically fit enough to be able to cope with the activities the prize demands.
Elisabeth Muller was an A-Level student at Bedford High School when she won the award in March and has since started her first term studying Earth Sciences at Oxford University.
Her winning project consisted of research looking at lunar meteorites. She studied two thin sections of a lunar meteorite for 6 weeks using an electron microprobe which gave her chemical data. From this data she was able determine the mineralogy of the meteorite. She found that it was a unique low titanium unbrecciated basalt meteorite which would have come from one of the ancient magma oceans on the moon’s surface.
After completing his A-Levels at Bablake School in Coventry, James Stefaniak has gone on to study Medical Sciences at Cambridge University.
James’ project investigated the safety and performance of an intense pulsed light (IPL) source device used in hair removal and skin treatments. Under the guidance of his mentor James was able to construct, calibrate and use a system of ultraviolet passband filters to measure the ultraviolet spectral content and pulse profile of a specific IPL device, the Lumenis One. Amazingly, at the time James carried out his investigation, any regulation guidelines uniquely relating to the safe manufacture and use of IPLs were still only in their draft stage.
Commenting on his project and beginning the trip to New Zealand, James Stefaniak said:
'When I heard that I had won a prize, I couldn't believe it. When I heard I was going to New Zealand, I really couldn't believe it! Now I just can't wait to begin this fantastic once in a lifetime adventure.
Best of all is the fact that hospital physicists will continue to use my UVR spectrometer to monitor IPL safety.'
Equally as excited as James, Elizabeth Muller added:
'I am really looking forward to this trip; it’s going to be absolutely amazing. I am certain that it will benefit my studies in Geology after my first term at University. Going to New Zealand really is fulfilling a dream. I thoroughly enjoyed my project and have benefited immensely from this taste of research. I hope to continue research full time after my degrees.'
Charlotte Thorley, the Royal Society’s Education Outreach Manager, will be accompanying the students on their trip. Remarking on the students, she said:
'Elisabeth and James are shining examples of what the UK’s next generation of scientists will look like. They are bright, enquiring and full of ideas. The Royal Society is delighted to give them a taste of the sort of adventure that a life in science can offer.'
You can follow James and Elizabeth’s trip via this Royal Society blog.
Find out more about:
- The Royal Society – the UK and Commonwealth’s science academy – including the preparations for its 350th anniversary in 2010.
- CREST – a project-based award scheme for secondary-age students aiming to recognise and accredit students' achievements in science, technology, engineering and maths. Over 28,000 students aged 11-19 from across the UK participated in the CREST Award Scheme last year.
- The UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair: 51 CREST projects made it to the national fair in 2008 after winning at one of 12 regional finals or via selection by a scientific review committee. The Fair has grown even bigger for 2009, becoming The Big Bang. The Big Bang will lead into National Science and Engineering Week and will include the final of the new National Science Competition, as well as the national final for the Young Engineer for Britain and the national CREST final.
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