The 2007 NC Student Academy of Science Annual Meeting and State Competitions was held on Friday, March 23rd.  The agenda included registration and the annual business meeting as well as paper presentations, keynote address, and awards ceremony, all on Friday. The event was structured to allow students to participate in the Student Academy Competition on Friday and the State Science Fair at Meredith College in Raleigh on Saturday.  The keynote presentation was by Dr. JoAnn Burkholder,Associate Professor of Aquatic Botany and Marine Sciences, NC State University.  Her presentation dealt with how scientists design experiments to learn the secrets of the natural world and many of the remarkable things they have learned.

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There were 105 middle school and high school student participants. They made 90 presentations in 16 different categories describing the results of their scientific investigations. First place in each category was awarded a handsome plaque, a science magazine subscription and a CD on how to prepare a poster for a science competition. Second and third place winners received a medal and a gift card or a science book.  Honorable Mention projects were recognized with a ribbon.  All students received a certificate and the new conference tee shirt, an especially popular original design by Mr. Juan Scivally, Art Instructor at NCSSM.

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The competition was judged by 35 professionals from state agencies, educational institutions, and businesses in the Triangle. Many of the judges returned from the 2006 competition and have expressed interest in judging again in 2008. Students were given the chance to meet with the judges over dinner after the competition to get additional feedback about their projects and learn about the science interests of the judges.

In addition to the category awards, the following students were awarded expense-paid trips to Boston for the 2008 American Junior Academy of Science and American Association for the Advancement of Science meetings:  Lena Alston, Kelly Bleaking, Abhiram Chivukula, Elizabeth Deerhake, Alisha Lee, Mike Mian, Anna Parker, Thomas Shanklin, Shivani Sud, and Liyuan Yang.  Thomas Shanklin received the annual $1,000.00 Charles Lytle College Scholarship. Finally, two teachers were recognized with NCSAS Teacher Recognition Awards, Samantha Barlow of The Oakwood School in Greenville and Brian Wood of Raleigh Enloe High School.

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The following officers were nominated at the meeting and elected by email ballot afterward:  President Eli Hornstein, President Elect Ford Moore, and Secretary Aakash Indurkhya.