White House honors two Sacred Heart student scientists
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency honored Ms. Mary Musolino (left), Madison Miles (middle), and Katherine Siciliano (right) at a White House Ceremony August 16. Courtesy of greenwichsentinel.com
The White House Council on Environmental Quality and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) honored Convent of the Sacred Heart alumnae Madison Miles ’16 and Katherine Siciliano ’16 at the White House August 16. EPA recognized these two graduates and Upper School Science Teacher Ms. Mary Musolino at the 2016 Presidential Environmental Education Awards Ceremony for their efforts in environmental preservation.
EPA awarded Madison and Katherine, named the Plant Phenoms, the honor of best project in New England for their creation of Nutrasafe, an eco-friendly plant food.
Nutrasafe tackles the environmental concern of modern day plant fertilizers. The Plant Phenoms developed and tested a plant food, made of vegetarian gel capsules, that is filled with dried banana and orange peels. These gel capsules allow the plant food to be easily distributed directly into the soil. Compared to the traditional fertilizers available today, Nutrasafe performed similarly and formed less algae in water.
“We wanted to create a project that was accessible for everyone. We envisioned a project that Lower School students could be excited about and understand, but also one that would be respected among scientists,” Madison said.
Courtesy of greenwichsentinel.com
Madison and Katherine were among 63 students to whom the EPA presented the annual President’s Environmental Youth Awards (PEYA) at the White House ceremony. The PEYA awards recognize youth environmental stewardship projects.
The EPA President, Ms. Gina McCarthy, President Barack Obama’s Assistant for Science and Technology, Dr. John Holdren, and the Secretary of Education, Mr. John King, opened the ceremony with their remarks to the winners. Afterward, each winner received his or her metal plaques and made a short speech describing the group’s project. The audience was then allowed to ask the group any questions about their experiments, project, or future plans. The ceremony ended with a lunch and an opportunity for the student winners to interact with each other.
Ms. Musolino mentored the Plant Phenoms in their research and expressed her joy in seeing them receive their award at the White House.
“I helped the students obtain all the needed equipment and materials and guided their research design and experimentation. Then, I assisted with data collection and analysis, as well as editing of the research report. I was very proud to see the girls accept their presidential plaques at the White House. It was rewarding to see their hard work, dedication, and environmental stewardship pay off in a big way,” Ms. Musolino said.
Madison is currently at Cornell University, while Katherine attends Boston University. The Plant Phenoms hope that once they are settled into college, they can work to improve the design of their project and correspond with Ms. Musolino about how to market NutraSafe to the general public.
– Kristen Davis, Content Editor
