Six Kapiʻolani Community College students participated in the Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference in STEM held in Washington D.C., February 7–8, and three received awards for their research projects.
Undergraduate research experience (URE) students Jennifer Chinen, Sheri Lei Marzan, Brent Shigano, Kiyomi Sanders, Alden Fernandez and Keanu Rochette Yu-Tsuen competed with four-year university students from across the country and presented their research in engineering, physics, ecology and environmental and earth sciences.
The ERN Conference in STEM is hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs; and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Human Resource Development (HRD), within the Directorate for Education and Human Resources. The conference is aimed at college and university undergraduate and graduate students who participate in programs funded by the NSF HRD unit, including underrepresented minorities and persons with disabilities.
Research award winners
Keanu Rochette Yu-Tsuen was awarded for, “Sensitive of Porites Compressa Corals to Native Hawaiian Plant Scaevola Taccada Extract.” He received third place in the Ecology, Environmental and Earth Sciences category.
Jennifer Chinen was awarded for, “Creating a Noise-Cancelling System to Reduce Whale Beaching Events Caused by Ship Noise.” She received first place in the Engineering category.
Kiyomi Sanders received first place in the Physics category for “Verifying the Eccentricity of the Moon’s Orbit using Lagrangian.”
Mahalo to faculty advisors and mentors John Berestecky, Hervé Collin, Aaron Hanai and Assistant Professor Mike Ross. The accomplishments of the students at the national level, the quality and rigor of their research and the professionalism of their presentations, continue to bring pride and recognition to Kapiʻolani CC, the URE program, the UH System and Hawaiʻi.
—By Li-Anne Delavega
