Two Berkshire students have been named Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) scholars.
Daniel Tian '19 and Avalon Lebenthal '19 are joined by Advanced Math/Science Research Director Dr. April Burch.
Avalon Lebenthal ’19 and Daniel Tian ’19 were chosen as semifinalists for the STS, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors, on Jan. 9. The pair submitted their scientific research in November.
“It is incredible to have two Regeneron scholars at Berkshire,” said Advanced Math/Science Research (AMSR) Director Dr. April Burch. “While I am proud of each of the six Berkshire students who entered the competition, I am so happy for Avalon and Daniel. I wish them the best of luck in the next phase of the competition.”
Berkshire’s AMSR program has produced 11 semifinalists since 2010. Lebenthal and Tian are among 300 scholars selected from a pool of 1,964 applicants, which included four other AMSR students.
Working closely with her mentor, Dr. Jeffry Stock of Princeton University, Lebenthal researched acne in Berkshire’s research lab. Using the lab’s transmission electron microscope, she was able to develop a method to reduce the skin condition. Tian explored vulnerabilities in image recognition software crucial for technologies such as driverless cars. He was assisted in his research by Dr. Siwei Lyu of SUNY-Albany and Dr. Nick Webb.
All semifinalists receive $2,000, as well as a matching amount for their school. 40 finalists will be selected on Jan. 23 to compete for the competition’s top award of $250,000.
Previous competition winners include Nobel Prize and National Medal of Science recipients.