Sundararajan is a Senior at the school in California.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: For the fifth time in the span of seven years, students from Mira Loma High School in Sacramento, California, have taken the top prize at the 2015 National Science Bowl, including a 17-year-old Indian American senior named Arvind Sundararajan.
The Mira Loma students also included senior and team captain Daniel Shen, 17; senior Roger Yu, 18; junior Jack Gurev, 16; and junior Claire Burch, 16, reported the Sacramento Bee.
Mira Loma trumped the team from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, by correctly answering a question about a gene-editing technology developed by the Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute.
“It’s quite impressive,” Coach Hill told the Sacramento Bee. “The students are really dedicated. They spend hours and hours. And since we’ve done so well [in prior years], they want to continue doing well.”
By taking top honors at the competition, the students and their coach, James Hill, a chemistry teacher at the school, will receive a 9-day, all-expenses-paid scientific excursion to Alaska. Capital Public Radio also revealed the Mira Loma science department was awarded $1,000.
In Alaska, the Mira Loma team will take trips to learn about glaciology, marine and avian biology, geology and plate tectonics, according to The Bee. They will also explore the Copper River Delta, known for its prolific salmon runs, visit old-growth hemlock and spruce while hiking in the Chugach National Forest, and visit Childs Glacier.
During the ceremony leading up to the final, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz remarked students competing in the event, now in its 25th year, are among those “who will help sustain America’s scientific and technological competitiveness in the 21st century.”
About 9,000 high school students and 5,300 middle school students from the 50 states, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands participated in this year’s regional competitions.