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2020 Data Jam winners announced

MILLBROOK — Data Jam 2020 was just as exciting this year as ever, even though it was a virtual event due to the coronavirus pandemic. On Friday, June 18, at 5 p.m., the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, which runs the contest,  showcased Data Jam participants’ work and highlighted this year’s area winners. While there were fewer entrants than in years past, there was still a solid turnout.

This was the seventh year that Cary participated, inviting all area students — budding scientists or perhaps artists interested in exploring scientific data bases — to use their special talents to share their findings. The data can be shared through story,  song, poem, graph, chart, painting, video or a sundry of other imaginative ways.

In the high school division, two of the winners were from the local private school, Millbrook School. The winners in the other divisions were from around the state.

2020 Data Jam Winners

Middle school division

• Best level one project: Annabelle Clark, grade seven, Mary Mount School. “The Spring Migration Story,” picture book. 

• Best level two project: Kal Sanvictores, Mikaella Salas and Edward Lin, grade six, Hudson Montessori School. “Hudson River Jeopardy: Zebra Mussels’,”  video. 

• Best level three project: Isla Oliveria and Madeline Stocks, Marymount School of Manhattan. “Blood Lead Levels, Poverty and Housing Trends for the Mid-Hudson Valley,” 2-D graph. 

• Best overall project: Lena Tran, Sahar Mokal and Shreya Golkanda, grade seven, Highland Middle School. “The Story of My Species,” picture book.

High school division

• Best level one: Robbie Roberts, grade 12, Millbrook School. “Change in Sea Levels at Battery Park,” photography.

• Best level two: Drew Deery, grade 11, Millbrook School. “Glass Eels,” digital photography. 

• Best level four: Juliana Sundberg, grade 10, home-schooled. “Pharmaceuticals in the Hudson River,” video. 

• Best overall project: Makenzie Boylan, grade 12, Fox Lane High School. “Pharmaceuticals in the Hudson,” digital painting.

Family project division

• Lulu Pronto Breslin, grade six, “Cary Wildlife Locator,” interactive graph.

• Eleanor Solomon and Nora Callaghan-Jurgens, grade six, “The Salty Suite,” song. 

Cash awards were given to the top middle and high school participants and special awards were given to the top family submissions

Judith O'Hara Balfe

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