FALL 2026 Ransom Everglades LOG 37 A cohort of 31 Ransom Everglades students exhibited their original research at the American Physical Society Global Physics Summit, the largest physics research conference in the world, in Denver March 15-20. Representing the school’s Young Researchers Program (YREP), students from all four grade levels at the upper school presented 18 distinct projects – four of which were recognized with conference awards. The award winners: Top Presenter • A Longitudinal Study: Mangrove Leaf Microbiome Change Over Time by Aditya Arul ’26, Aaliyah Asghar ’26, ZiXuan Wang ’29 and Sabine Wolfensberger ’27 Honorable Mention • Physics of Mangroves: Species Diversity in Urban Mangrove Habitats by Luciana Adatto ’27, Lucas Chen ’28 and Caitlyn White ’27 • Cost-Effective Optical Tweezers Using The Open Flexure Microscope by Christopher Carruthers ’28, Victor de Souza ’28, Daniel Depass-Jurberg ’28 and Cohen McDaniel ’28 REwarding REsearch Student-scientists make their mark at professional conference in Denver • LIBS + Dirt: Heavy Metal Detection in Soil Through LIBS by Garoe del Coso Pena ’27, Raif London ’29, Sebastian Pita Mendez ’27, Lucas Praca ’27 and YREP alumni Carlos Horcasitas ’25 and Leah Vela ’25 Under the leadership of YREP director/physics teacher Emily Grace and faculty mentors Heather Marshall, Kristine Stump, Miranda Klees, Paul Natland ’02, Bob DuBard and Maddy Quirke-Shattuck, RE’s talented student contingent worked on their posters and research for months, then engaged with some 14,000 members of the international scientific community under the theme “Science for a Shared Future.” The work by Dominique Cederberg ’26, Oliver Duwin ’26 and Wes Griffin ’26 was accepted into American Physical Society (APS) in sections outside of the undergraduate category, a rare distinction for high school researchers. Cederberg, Duwin, Ian Villaraos ’26, Neale Villaraos ’26, Max Wolfensberger ’26 and Minnie Zhou ’26 gave individual talks, as did Dr. Grace. The students’ projects spanned a wide range of scientific topics, including Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), mangrove soil microbiome longitudinal studies, and the development of wave-tank prototypes to measure coastal stress. “I firmly believe that all interested students deserve access to original research,” Dr. Grace said. “These young researchers are asking real questions and doing work that holds up in professional spaces. Watching young scientists realize that they belong in scientific spaces is the best part of doing this program.” Photos by Suzanne Kores
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