Our Lady of Lourdes student claims back-to-back diocesan Young Scientist of the Year awards

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SALT LAKE CITY — Winning a science fair once is quite the accomplishment, but Chase Kramer, 12, has repeated that achievement. On Feb. 5, he was named Young Scientist of the Year at the Diocesan Science Fair, an award he also claimed in 2021.

A sixth-grade student at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School, Chase was interested in seeing what impact electric cars have on the environment, so for the fair he designed an experiment to answer the question “Is the Zero-Emission Statement in Electric Cars Really True?” This project built on the work he did for last year’s science fair, when he examined how toxic scented candles could be, he said.

“One of the main reasons I did this project was because when I’m researching something, I like to have my own knowledge and not go off of other people’s knowledge,” Chase said. “I wanted to know for myself if electric cars had an impact on the environment.”

Because his family owns a Tesla, a Jeep Gladiator and a diesel-powered Dodge Ram, it was easy to measure and compare results of the emissions of the various vehicles, he said.

Chase found that electric car chargers emit carbon monoxide at similar levels to the carbon dioxide given off by non-electric vehicles. Despite this, “electric cars are showing promising results,” he said. “They are showing progress, and they are showing they are the way of the future.”

Most of the judges at the science fair were surprised by Chase’s conclusion but were impressed with his presentation and his depth of knowledge of the subject, said his mother, Margaret White.

As winner of the diocesan fair, Chase will advance to the statewide University of Utah Science and Engineering Fair. Last year at the state level Chase took an honorable mention, but he feels confident about doing better at this year’s contest, which will be held March 9-10, because he will have more time to prepare, he said.

A passionate basketball player, Chase is on Sky Ridge High School’s bantam team. After high school and completing a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he plans to attend college before pursuing a career in politics.

Even though the family is not Catholic, Chase’s parents are committed to giving him a Catholic school education because they find public schools in Utah cannot provide the level of education they want for their son, White said.

Chase has been inspired by his science teachers over the last two years: Paul Sirstins at St. Olaf and Joshua Hegvik at Our Lady of Lourdes.

“To have a male teacher that is super-inspiring when you’re an 11- or 12-year-old boy, especially in Utah with the teacher shortage … he just did not have that in public schools,” White said. “Mr. Sir [as Sirstins is known] and Mr. Hegvik pushed him, inspired him. When you have a child that is constantly asking for more, you have to satisfy it.”