By Charlotte Sendek
Volume 68, Issue IV

On February 3, science research students participated in the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) at John Jay-Cross River High School. All but two seniors in the program and a handful of juniors participated. Participants presented a poster of their research twice and another time if there was a tie within a category.

Two Briarcliff students, Livy Bergstein and Andrew Van Camp, placed third in their respective categories (Animal Science for Bergstein and Biology I for Van Camp). Bergstein, a senior, studied the association between dog lateralization and behavior, discovering that left-pawed dogs are more likely to be both aggressive and timid than right-pawed dogs because aggression and timidness usually exist on the right side of the brain, which controls the left side of the body. The study will give scientists a better understanding of the body-brain connection in dogs and more insight into animal behavior. She plans to continue researching behavioral animal science in college and then go on to vet school to become a veterinarian.

Van Camp, a junior, studied the relationship between two proteins from the same pathway associated with heart attack. He found that both proteins are needed to have an indirect effect on heart attack, but the first protein, called Tribbles-1, does not directly regulate the second protein, called SREBP-1c; instead, there is some intermediate protein. Since Van Camp is only a junior, he is going to conduct further research this summer at the same lab and add to his study.

JSHS marks the first of two local science research competitions in which all seniors and select juniors are expected to compete. WESEF, a larger event, held at Sleepy Hollow High School on March 17, is the final event unless a student wins big there and advances to a national competition. All science research students will present their in-progress or completed research at the BHS Science Research Symposium on May 22.