HMB High students win opportunities in science

Three Half Moon Bay High School students were recently honored in two separate events. Nancy and Gissel Ronquillo each received a $2400 scholarship to attend a two-week summer science camp in Berkeley, Ca.

Ric Lohman arranged for the J. David Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco to expand its scholarship program this year to allow students from Half Moon Bay High to apply and compete for the 21 scholarships. Biology teachers Barbara Lohman and Leigh Detweiler each nominated one student from their respective classes.

The students had to write an essay about their career goals in science and go through competitive interviews at the Gladstone Institutes. A wide range of San Francisco schools were represented, but both HMB students were selected. Nancy and Gissel will live on the UC Berkeley campus for two weeks, attend classes, and visit local companies that work in the areas of medicine and health care.

The Gladstone Institutes continue to track all scholarship awardees and invite them back for alumni gatherings and even offer internships to those who decide to continue with careers in medical research. The Gladstone Institutes do advanced research in Alzheimer’s disease, AIDS, and cardiac studies.

On a much larger biological scale, Jennifer Steger will be doing glaciological research this summer through the Juneau Icefield Research Program (affectionately called JIRP by its participants). Begun in the 1940’s at the University of Idaho this program allows students to participate in research on the movements and composition of glaciers. The students will spend 2 months trekking between research sites on cross-country skis, carrying their belongings with them. Ice and glacier safety is an important part of the training. Only a few high school students are included in this program which accepts applicants from all over the United States. Jenny will be working with undergraduate students, graduate students and scientists to learn the rigors of scientific research while contributing to global databases on glacier data.