Westminster College has announced the winners from the 17th annual Student Symposium on the Environment held on campus on Thursday, Dec. 5.

More than 160 regional college and high school students attended the symposium featuring environment-focused research, projects, internships, service work and artwork. Schools represented included Westminster College, Chatham University, Duquesne University, Thiel College, Youngstown State University, Neshannock High School, Wilmington Area High School and James Madison High School in Vienna, Va.

Eighty-three projects were presented among seven main categories: Environmental Research Posters, Environmental Project Posters, Oral Presentations, High School Research Posters, Artwork, Videos and High School Creative Works.

Chatham University students Sarah Yannayon, Rachel Coyne and Abigail Gastonguay earned the top prize for their Research Poster presentation “The Impact of White-Tailed Deer on Shrub Genera: A Meta-Analysis.”  

Elysia Morris of Ellwood City, Pa., a senior environmental science major at Westminster, won for her Environmental Project Presentation “Farm to Table Internship.”

Westminster honors student Rachel Sacherich, an elementary and special education major from Coraopolis, Pa., won for her Oral Presentation on “A Series of Environmental Studies Lesson Plans for the Elementary Grade Levels.”

The winner in the High School Research Poster category was Linnea Funari from Wilmington Area High School for her presentation “Manipulation of Blade Design as a Means of Increasing Wind Turbine Efficiency in Areas of Low Wind.”

In the Artwork category, Westminster environmental science major Jamie Robertson of Lake Balboa, Calif., won for her field guide-inspired painting “Strelitzia Reginae: The Bird of Paradise.”

First place in the Video category went to Westminster environmental science major Sophia Klonowski of Grove City, Pa., for her video “What is Beeswax?”

Two winners were awarded “Outstanding” in the High School Creative Works category: Hunter Guthrie from James Madison High School with his creation of a reusable bag knitted from single-use plastic bags titled “Used Bags, Useful Bags” and Amelia Lenz of Neshannock High School for her photograph “Waiting for Winter.”

Honorable mentions were given to:

• Duquesne University students Lucas Gallegos and Darren Johnson for their Research Poster “Assessing Carnivore Occupancy in Abandoned Mine Lands: A Camera Trap Study in Powdermill Nature Reserve.”

• Westminster physics major Colton Super from Aliquippa, Pa., for his Environmental Project “How Water Quality Affects Coral Size.”

• Westminster College honors student and biology major Alexandria Bender of New Castle, Pa., for her Oral Presentation “The Effects of Nature Therapy on Stress.”

• Wilmington Area High School students in Chris Cassano’s class: Ellie Postema for “The Antibacterial Effect of Diphenhydramine HCl on Rhizobium and Its Influence on Glycine Max Growth”; Elizabeth Bersett for “The Effects of Rising Soil Temperatures on Rhizobium (Soybean) Biomass and Viability”; and Baylee Boyle, Sonya Merz and Emelia Ramirez for “Microplastic-Contaminated Runoff Water and Its Possible Phytotoxic Influence on Soybean Rhizobium Nodules, Plant Growth and Soil Nutrient Levels.”

• Westminster junior Kayla Conway, a pre-nursing major from New Castle, for her Lazarus species painting “Golden Toad” in the Artwork category.

• Westminster senior Brooke Horvath, an accounting and business administration major from Murrysville, Pa., for her video “The Queen Bee.”

Winners selected in the symposium’s seven main categories were awarded cash prizes sponsored by BioMost Inc. and Stream Restoration Inc. All awardees also received a certificate.

The 18th Student Symposium on the Environment will be held on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. The annual event is sponsored by the Center for the Environment at Westminster College and the Slippery Rock Watershed Coalition.

For more information about the symposium, please contact Dr. Helen Boylan, professor of environmental science, at boylanhm@westminster.edu or 724-946-6293.

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