National Young Astronomer Award, 2000 Winners

More than ten million high school students were eligible for this year's award, and dozens of students from across the United States competed for the Astronomical League's National Young Astronomer Award. The top seven finalists' award applications were submitted to a panel of national judges, all noted astronomers. This year, the judges were Dr. Frank Bash, Director of the McDonald Observatory, Dr. David Hans Hough, professor at Trinity University, and Dr. Robert Stencel, professor at the University of Denver. In addition to other prizes, all finalists won complimentary memberships in the International Dark-Sky Association. Here are the results: p

First Place: Patrick L. Kelly

Patrick Kelly is the first place N.Y.A.A. winner. He is a senior at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC. Patrick will receive an all expenses paid trip to the Astronomical League's 53nd annual convention at Ventura, California, this July where he will receive a Meade 10-inch LX-200 telescope worth over $3,000 donated by Meade Instruments Corporation. In addition, he will receive a lifetime pass to the McDonald Observatory, compliments of the University of Texas.

His astronomical research project was titled, The Color-Magnitude Relation in Hickson Compact Group 62. To gather data for this project, Patrick used the 1.0 meter Swope Telescope of the Las Campanas Observatory. He discovered a similarity in color-magnitude relationships between the Hickson Group 62 and other high density galactic clusters. His research will help us better understand the nature of galactic evolution.

Patrick has a very impressive list of other awards and achievements. This year, he was one of the top 40 finalists in the Intel Science Talent Search. He has maintained an honor roll status with nearly perfect grades despite a challenging course load. Patrick has a strong passion for astronomy and is a member of the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club, the National Capitol astronomers, and he has participated in the University of Arizona Advanced Astronomy camp. He has visited observatories around the world including Kitt Peak National Observatory, Mauna Kea, Mount Wilson, USNO, NRAO in Greenbank, and many others.

Second Place: Tiffany Titus

Tiffany Titus, a senior at the Battle Creek Area Math and Science Center in Michigan, won second place honors. She will receive a lifetime pass to the McDonald Observatory. Tiffany is a member of the National Honor Society and has been on the honor roll all four years of high school. She has won many awards during her high school years, including second place in the "Outstanding Science Student Award."

In her astronomical research, Tiffany studied the Orbit of 737 Arequipa, and she calculated its orbital elements. During several weeks of observations, she wrote a computer program to calculate the asteroid's orbit. Tiffany has become active in astrophotography, and she is currently evaluating different types of film for responsiveness to various astronomical objects. Always willing to lend a helping hand in astronomy, she often shares her telescope with others.

Third Place: Stephanie Fawcett

The third place winner is Stephanie Fawcett, a junior at Boulder High School in Boulder, Colorado. Stephanie was selected to attend the University of Arizona's Advanced Astronomy camp, and in August 1999, she was the guest speaker at the Longmont Astronomical Society. As part of her application for this camp, she wrote an essay, Application of Extrasolar Planetary Data in the Search for Extraterrestrial Life Using the Drake Equation.

During her freshman and sophomore years, she served as her school's science club president, and later, she established an astronomy club for her high school. This astronomy club is now building a 5-inch Newtonian reflector telescope. During her high school studies, she has taken many advanced math and science course and maintained excellent grades. Only a junior, she has already completed she has completed Advanced Physics, one of her favorite subjects.

Fourth Place: Brian Grefenstette

Brian Grefenstette is a senior in homeschool at Fairfax Station, Virginia. During the summer of 1999, he was selected to take part in science apprenticeship at the United States Naval Observatory. While there, he conducted a study called "Photometric Analysis of the Major Moons of Uranus" with sponsorship of Dr. Dan Pascu. During this research, he was able to determine color magnitudes accurate to within hundredths. The purpose of these measurements is to check for interaction between the moons and magnetosphere on Uranus.

Brian is an active member of the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club, and observes the night skies using his 4-inch Newtonian Reflector. He has frequently observed faint galaxies, clusters, and other objects through telescopes as large as 20-inches in diameter.

Fifth Place: Meredith Kratzer

Meredith Kratzer is a junior at James Madison High School in Vienna, Virginia, and this was her second year in a row finishing as one of our national finalists. She won many awards with her project, The Research and Analysis of Solar Activity and Its effects. She studied fluctuation in the solar wind and its relationship to the Earth's geomagnetic field.

Meredith was a grand prize winner at the Fairfax County Regional Science fair in 1998, and she has won several other awards in conjunction with her astronomical research. As a freshman, she competed in the 1998 ISEF, a remarkable achievement Meredith maintains a 4.0 grade point average, and she is a member of the National Capital Astronomers.

Sixth Place: Susan E. H. Jacobs

Susan Jacobs placed sixth in N.Y.A.A., and she is a senior at Grimsley High School in Greensboro, North Carolina. She is enrolled in mathematics studies in the International Baccalaureate program, and she conducted research concerning the Effects of Sunspots on the Propagation of Radio Waves. Based upon historical data, she learned that an exact mathematical relationship does not exist between sunspot data and radio propagation values. Although there is no exact mathematical link, other correlation has been discovered.

Susan maintains an "A" grade average in her astronomy and International Baccalaureate mathematics studies. She also serves as the president of the Grimsley High School Astronomy Club, and she attends the weekly public programs at the Cline Observatory located at Guilford Technical Community College in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Seventh Place: Matthew Route

Our seventh place winner is Matthew Route, a senior at Bear Creek High School in Lakewood, Colorado. Starting as early as the sixth grade, he has been very active in projects to teach students about science, particularly astronomy. In his tenth grade math class, he taught "Kepler's Laws" and "Doppler Shifts in Light." Matthew believes, "It is imperative students are taught about science, for they are the future of mankind...."

Matthew Route has an impressive list of academic achievements, and he has also maintained excellent grades. In his junior year, he was elected to the National Honor Society. Among many other awards, he won "Most Outstanding Freshman Math Student". In his junior year, he won the most outstanding "Advanced Placement Chemistry Student" award.