On Tuesday, nearly 200 middle and high school students will wait while judges peruse their science fair projects to determine the winner of the seventh annual Roche Colorado Science Fair. The public is invited to view the projects between 4 and 5:30 p.m. at the Glenn Miller Ballroom on the University of Colorado campus.
Tanya Petach, junior at Fairview High School
Accomplishment: Tanya won last year’s best in show award at the Roche Colorado Science Fair and went on to compete at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Las Vegas. For her project this year, Tanya studied salinity issues in the Colorado River.
She took samples of water from tributaries along a 30-mile stretch of the river as it flows through the Grand Canyon. She mapped her results so that the salinity readings could be correlated with aquifers that feed the river along its journey through the canyon.
Q: What do you like about science?
A: I really love the challenge — that there are so many ideas out there that people haven’t really looked at yet. There are things like cancer that have such big reputations that everyone seems to be doing lab studies about it. But there’s much more science to do out there.
Q: Is there a field of science you’re most interested in?
A: It’s actually just really fun if you can correlate the science you want to do with other passions that you have. For me, I just love being outdoors.
Q: How is competing in the science fair?
A: My favorite part of doing it is just talking about my project with someone who really cares. Everyone gets the chance to talk to judges who are really interested in what you did, and the camaraderie at the fair is just fantastic.
Q: What do you do when you’re not investigating a scientific question?
A: I love Nordic skiing. It’s been one of my passions for a long time.