Bureau of Reclamation recognizes St. Francis of Xavier student's outstanding science project

Friday, Mar. 18, 2016

KEARNS — Olivia Culley, an eighth-grade student at St. Francis Xavier School in Kearns, volunteered her time with the Bureau of Reclamation Upper Colorado Region last summer; she is also featured in one of the bureau’s videos for youth outreach.

Culley came to the attention of the government bureau after she built a working model of a dam and hydroelectric generator as a science fair project last year. Her project won engineering honors from her school’s science fair. Then, among other awards at the diocesan science fair, she received Best Oral Presentation in all categories and all grades before advancing to the statewide Salt Lake Valley Science & Engineering Fair, where she received a specialty award, an honorable mention in the National Center for Women and Information Technology.

Because of her national and oral presentation awards, Culley was invited by the Bureau of Reclamation Upper Colorado Region to present her project to a group of area managers. This led to the opportunity that she completed over the summer, said Stacey Smith, Bureau of Reclamation communications representative, who at the time was a youth representative for the organization and introduced Culley to the project of building the dam. 

“Olivia’s presentation skills were amazing; she speaks very well,” Smith said.

After Culley presented her project in April, “they invited me back to help at The Earth Connection Camp at Red Butte Gardens to teach and mentor youth ranging in age from 7 to 17,” Culley said. “They asked me to recreate a model of my dam, which I donated to the bureau for the outreach program for youth.” 

A video of Culley presenting her project to youth will be sent to Washington, D.C. for review and then viewed by youth throughout the nation, she said. 

Officials from the Bureau of Reclamation’s Upper Colorado Region asked Culley to build two replicas of the working model using her penstock theory, said Amee Andreason, Bureau of Reclamation public affairs representative. “This young engineer-to-be’s impressive knowledge and capability in science and technology was  very helpful when Reclamation needed a new youth outreach project as well as her dynamic personality, confident presence, and impressive oral presentation skills for the video that will be presented during youth events.”

The Upper Colorado Region plans to continue their relationship with Culley during youth events, where she can represent her model to show youth how it works, Andreason said. “This will inspire the youth on hydroelectricity, dams/Reclamation and becoming an engineer, and that it is possible as seen by Ms. Culley in the video or in person. She is an extraordinary example of extremely talented youth.”

After being introduced to the idea of the dam and hydroelectricity by Smith, who also is a family friend, Culley visited the bureau’s web site for information. With the assistance of Simpson, her father, Brad Culley, who is a welder, she began constructing her project “to make it into a reality,” she said. 

Culley realized from her experience with the Bureau of Reclamation and her sixth grade project, in which she tested brain concussion headbands from head trauma, that she “likes to see data,” she said. 

This has led her interests toward becoming a civil engineer and working with the Bureau of Reclamation, she said. “I’ve also noticed that I think like  an engineer. My experience has helped me a lot in figuring out and what I like doing and what I want to do when I grow up.”