Capstone project earns local student Climate Action KC scholarship

Van Horn High School senior Jose Saenz-Olivas received the Sustainability Challenge Award at Project Lead the Way’s Biomedical Research & Design Competition this Spring for his capstone “The Effect of Climate Change on Local Aquatic Life: How Expected Increases in Precipitation and Pesticide Runoff May Affect Missouri Crustaceans”. The Independence School District student reported on the likelihood of concentrated precipitation due to climate change and global warming, increasing the possibility of contaminated runoff, and what that means for Missouri wildlife.

Saenz-Olivas and nearly 400 other students from 36 area schools set up at Union Station on April 26, competing in Engineering Design, Innovation, and Biomedical Research & Design as part of Project Lead the Way, the nation’s leading provider of rigorous STEM education for K-12 students. The curriculum emphasizes critical thinking, creativity, innovation and real-world problem-solving. The $1,000 Sustainability Challenge Award was sponsored by Climate Action KC and Johnson Controls,

Saenz-Olivas also received Third Place overall in the Biomedical Research & Design Competition, as well as an Innovator Award for the project.