There was joy at Mary Immaculate Secondary School in Lisdoonvarna this afternoon as the awards were announced for this years BT Young Scientists and Technology Exhibition.
Anna Mae O’Driscoll won two awards for her project entitled “Does the Limestone in the Burren Keep it as Warm as People Say?”. In this project, she was investigating if the heat holding ability of the Burren limestone is as good as people think it is.
For her research she was third in in the Junior Individual Chemical, Physical and Mathematical sciences category. She also won the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) award. This is the second year in a row that this award has come to Lisdoonvarna.
Oisín Jackson was awarded a highly commended for his project entitled “An investigation into the effect of wind on tree shape”. In this project he investigated the effect wind exposure has on the trunk and crown of four different species of tree found in the Burren.
Other projects that made it to the finals of the BTYSTE were:
Aisling Vaughan with a project on “How the farmers of North Clare see the future of Farming in their area”. Ciara McDonnell with a project entitled “An investigation into the level of microplastics on a number of beaches in the West of Ireland”, Alana McKinnon with a project entitled “The effect of wind on leaf morphology on two species of tree in the Burren” and Kim Forde and Ella Campbell with a project entitled “Predicting the spread of hazel scrub in the Burren”. These were all second-year students.
There was also a TY project that made it to the finals of the BTYSTE. Katie Woods and Emily Moloney entered a project entitled “The Use of Tiger Worms as Biological Indicators”.
Well done to all of the students on their excellent research. You did your school proud. A big thank you to their teachers, Mr. Sims and Ms. Cusack, for mentoring them.