Every year, students from Schreiber’s three research programs — math, science, and social science — enter their original research projects into a competition called the Regeneron Science Talent Search.  This year, out of 1,804 entrants across the nation, three Schreiber students were in the group of 300 entrants named semi-finalists: Lexi Vesselinov and Jackie Atchley, both from Social Science Research, and Abraham Franchetti, from Math Research.

The Regeneron Science Talent Search is an annual competition that is a program of the Society for Science.  Founded in 1942, it is the “oldest and most prestigious science competition for high school seniors,” according to its website.  It was known as the Westinghouse Science Talent Search until 1998, and then as the Intel Science Talent Search from 1998-2016.  It is now named for Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, its new title sponsor.  About 1,800 original research papers are submitted each year; of those, 300 are selected as semi-finalists and 40 are ultimately named finalists.  In a cumulative review since 1999, Schreiber ranks tenth in terms of numbers of semi-finalists and finalists from a given school.

In order to submit to the Regeneron Science Talent Search, research students — from Schreiber and across the country — must perform original research studies, typically under the mentorship of a university professor.  For students within the Schreiber research programs, work on Regeneron projects begins in April or May of junior year, proceeds through the summer, and concludes in the fall of senior year.

Jackie Atchley’s project was entitled “The Relationship Between Levels of Extraversion, Restorative Niche Trait-Congruency, and Positive Affect.”  Atchley examined how characteristics of personality — particularly extraversion — relate to the benefits from restorative activities, and found that extraverts who participated in an activity that nurtured an extraverted personality experienced greater levels of positive emotions.  Atchley’s project was also chosen to be presented at the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) and Long Island Science and Engineering Fair (LISEF).

Lexi Vesselinov’s project was entitled “The Effects of Hypobaria Following Traumatic Brain Injury Plus Hemorrhagic Shock on Neuroinflammation and Behavior.”  It investigated conditions during the evacuation of injured soldiers following Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and found that low air pressure can exacerbate the effects of TBI in patients. Vesselinov’s project was chosen to be presented at JSHS, LISEF, and the New York State Science and Engineering Fair (NYSSEF).

Abraham Franchetti’s project, “Analyzing Political and Economic Variation in United States’ COVID-19 Response,” analyzed trends in responses to, and impacts of, COVID-19 in various states, considering factors including political affiliation of each state’s governor and whether the various state legislatures are controlled by their respective governor’s party.  Franchetti’s project was chosen to be presented at LISEF and NYSSEF, and was also published in the Journal of Applied Statistics and Machine Learning in January.

Jackie, Lexi, and Abraham were recognized at local and national levels for their scientific achievements, from the Port Washington Board of Education to the Society for Science itself.