2026 Kentucky State Science and Engineering Fair
The Kentucky State Science and Engineering Fair was Saturday, March 28, 2026 at Eastern Kentucky University, and our Saint Francis of Assisi Cougar Science Team was in attendance! Following their outstanding performance and first-place win at the Louisville Regional Science and Engineering Fair, our 31 young scientists showcased their innovative projects and competed in nearly 2 dozen different categories.
We are incredibly proud to announce our twenty middle school students who placed in this year’s state competition:
2026 KENTUCKY STATE SCIENCE & ENGINEERING FAIR WINNERS
(§) denotes Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovator Challenge Winners
ANIMAL SCIENCES
1st Place: Carol Erwin, St. Francis of Assisi - Exploring Acupressure as Stress Reduction in Horses, Winner, 3rd Place - Best of Fair – Life Sciences- Middle School
2nd Place: Nora Burton, St. Francis of Assisi – Can Fish Smell Fear? (§)
BIOCHEMISTRY
1st Place: Ian Rasnake, St. Francis of Assisi - Herbicides/Insecticides Affect Coagulation
3rd Place Amelia Turner, St. Francis of Assisi - Kentucky Goldenrod: A Potential Natural Treatment for Eczema
BIOMEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES
1st Place: Emma Cowley, St. Francis of Assisi - Exploring Square Breathing as An Academic Anxiety Intervention
BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
1ST Place: Miles Williams, St. Francis of Assisi - Exploring the Effect of Phototherapy on Stem Cells and Signaling
CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
1st Place - Maura Keeley-Fine, St Francis of Assisi - Diphenhydramine: Does it Affect Stem Cells?
2nd Place - Riley Bartlett, St. Francis of Assisi - Winterbloom: a Potential Native Kentucky Anti-Cancer Remedy (§)
CHEMISTRY
1st Place: Lincoln Knockwafel, St. Francis of Assisi – Rusting Alaska: Salt’s Impact on Iron Oxidation and Precipitation
COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY AND BIOINFORMATICS
3rd Place: Tony Church, St. Francis of Assisi – Exploring IBD Gene Expression in Parkinson’s Disease
EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
1st Place: Sophia Fitzgerald, St. Francis of Assisi – Sunlight’s Effect on Drug Toxicity in Aquatic Systems, Winner, 3rd Place - Best of Fair – Physical Sciences- Middle School
EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
1st Place: Andrew Head, St. Francis of Assisi – Engineer a Low Cost Acoustic Early Warning Flooding System, Winner: U.S. Army Award, Middle Grades
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
1st Place: Lauren Duncan, St. Francis of Assisi – Cicada Shells: A New Natural Dye Adsorbent
2nd Place: James Sexston, St. Francis of Assisi - Can Milkweed Floss Remediate Microfibers (§)
MICROBIOLOGY
2nd Place: Lucy Pulliam, St. Francis of Assisi – Exploring the Effects of Plastic Leachate on the Gut Microbiome
PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY
1st Place: Owen Park, St. Francis of Assisi – Optimizing Electromagnetic Dust Shields for Martian Regolith Mitigation, Winner: U.S. Navy-Marine Corps, Office of Naval Research, Naval Science Award
ROBOTICS AND INTELLIGENT MACHINES
1st Place: William Paxton, St. Francis of Assisi – Improved Prosthetic Grip Control, Winner: U.S. Air Force Award, Middle Grades
SYSTEMS SOFTWARE
3rd Place: Max Dunn, St. Francis of Assisi – Prydwen: A System for Preventing Prompt Injections Within LLMs
TECHNOLOGY ENHANCES THE ARTS
1st Place: Henry Buchenberger, St. Francis of Assisi – Picasso Canvas: Creating Tactile Art Experiences for the Blind (§)
TRANSLATIONAL MEDICAL SCIENCE
2nd Place: Caroline Keeney, St. Francis of Assisi – Rhubarb Extract: A Potential Anti-Cancer Therapy
Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovator Challenge Winners (learn more):
Nora Burton, Saint Francis of Assisi, Louisville, “Can Fish Smell Fear?”
Henry Buchenberger, Saint Francis of Assisi, Louisville, “Picasso Canvas: Creating Tactile Art Experiences for the Blind”
William Paxton, Saint Francis of Assisi, Louisville, “Improved Prosthetic Grip Control”
James Sexton, Saint Francis of Assisi, Louisville, “Can Milkweed Floss Remediate Microfibers”
Riley Bartlett, Saint Francis of Assisi, Louisville, “Winterbloom: a Potential Native Kentucky Anti-Cancer Remedy”
Source: https://kysciencefair.org/2025-ky-sef-award-winners/