International award for Clongowes student
Jack Shannon, a sixth year Clongowes Wood College Student, came first place in the Environmental Engineering Category at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Los Angeles this month. He was also awarded the Regeneron ISEF nomination to the EU Contest for Young Scientists, which takes place in Poland in September 2024.
Each year over 7 million students in over 75 countries participate in different regional, district, and state ISEF-affiliated fairs. Jack was one of 1,699 global finalists selected to compete for the grand prizes.
Jack’s project is entitled ‘Global carbon sinks and remote sensing for monitoring peatland restoration’. The case study focuses on an automated approach for mapping the rehabilitation of carbon sinks using satellite-based data of Irish raised bogs.
The project’s appeal was its practical and inexpensive application of ways to monitor remote areas of land inaccessible to humans. He presented his project to esteemed judges from universities such as CALTECH, MIT, Los Alamos Laboratories and well-known people in the field of STEM.
Jack says “This was a great opportunity to showcase my skills and creativity on a global stage and I am over the moon to have won two awards. I am so thankful to my family, teachers, friends and everyone who supported me at SciFest”.
Founded in 1950 ISEF is an annual science fair in the United States held in May each year. Students at the fair compete for scholarships, tuition grants, internships and scientific field trips.
