Two Judge Memorial Catholic HS students present at national geophysical conference

Friday, Jan. 17, 2025
Two Judge Memorial Catholic HS students present at national geophysical conference + Enlarge
By Linda Petersen
Intermountain Catholic

SALT LAKE CITY — Proving that the sky is not the limit, two Judge Memorial Catholic High School students have followed up the internships they had at NASA last summer by presenting a project to the eminent physical scientists at the American Geophysical Union conference, held in Washington, D.C. in December.
Rowan Hankins and Isaac Hildebrand, both juniors at Judge Memorial CHS, applied for the NASA internship after learning about it from their science teacher, Dr. Dasch Houdeshel.
Having both students accepted into the internship paves the way for other Judge students to follow, Houdeshel said. “It’s obviously one of the most elite science agencies in the world, and to have two of our students selected to intern with them is really, really unique, really incredible. The thing that’s so neat about it, too, is that once your school gets accepted, your name’s on the list; and they’ve done really well, and so they’ve opened the door for other people to follow behind them. “
Rowan said she applied even though she doubted she would be accepted. “I’m very interested in aerospace, and my dad’s in aerospace, so I thought it’d be a great opportunity, but I never thought I was going to get in, because there’s only 50 kids in the country who get it, and I knew a couple of my friends were applying,” she said. 
Prior to the internship, which took place July 27 to Aug. 4, participants had to complete more than 60 hours of background research to prepare for the experience. Then, at the internship, their areas of interest were identified and  they were divided up into small groups to work on different projects.
The internship took place at the University of Texas at Austin. There, the two Judge students were paired with other high school students from Arkansas, Arizona, Virginia, Puerto Rico and New Mexico as part of the In Space Plant Growth Systems team. Over the nine days the team worked on the project “Cultivating a Galactic Garden,” developing a prototype for plant growth in lunar regolith (material found on the surface of the moon). Their project was then presented at a symposium and recorded on YouTube. 
“It’s everything I could have hoped for – the amount of friendships I gained from that, because you’re all in such close quarters for so many days, and you’re just on your own but I absolutely loved it,” Rowan said. “The mentors that we have are absolutely amazing, and I got to network with so many people, and I can still use them as connections or recommendations, and it was one of the best experiences.”
Isaac also enjoyed the experience, saying it “was super fun. I met a lot of super nice people to work with and did a lot of cool stuff.”
Following the internship, the groups were invited to submit an abstract of their project to be considered for the American Geophysical Union conference in Washington, D.C. The In Space Plant Growth Systems team’s project was accepted to be part of the Education Section General Poster gallery, where eminent scientists came through and spoke to the students about their project. 
At first the conference was a little overwhelming, Isaac said. “There was so many smart people there, way smarter than me, but it was really cool. I learned a lot and did a lot of fun networking.”
It was also a superb opportunity to network with many scientists and experts from across the world, the two said.
“We had some great conversations with them, and I got in contact with a couple of them. I still am in contact with them, just to further progress our research,” Rowan said. 
The two students also had the opportunity during the conference to network with representatives of companies and colleges like the NASA companies, the Utah State University science labs and John Hopkins University. 
“The application for the NASA internship is open right now, so I would encourage any sophomores and juniors to apply,” Isaac said.
Both Rowan and Isaac hope to have careers in the aerospace industry; they are pursuing internships for next summer.

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