This was definitely an unusual year but the Virginia Junior Academy of Science (VJAS) held it’s 79th Annual Meeting and Research Symposium in a virtual format in May and June 2020. Although the oral presentations were cancelled, students and their projects were able to be judged based on the submitted research papers. This year’s theme was “Charting our Paths Forward”, a certainly fitting idea to carefully consider, whether as a young or experienced scientist. Even during these times, we were able to grant the usual awards, including the two of the largest scholarships, provided by the Virginia Environmental Endowment .
In addition, VJAS awarded Benjamin Bankston of Central Virginia Governor’s School and Chirayu Nimonkar of Godwin High School the prestigious opportunity to attend the next American Junior Academy of Science Conference in February 2021. The alternate winners were Shrinidhi Kittur of of Godwin High School and Caroline Klotz of Clover Hill High School.
Looking forward, VJAS is introducing many new and exciting opportunities and co-sponsored programs. Two different types of mentorship programs, the VAS Mentorship Assistance Program and the VJAS student-to-student guidance program, targeted for both middle and high school students, will be available this fall. VJAS is also promoting the VAS sponsored Virginia BioBlitz on Saturday, September 26. For more information on any of these programs, please visit http:// vjas.org/resources.html.
As a closing note, the primary mission of the Junior Academy is to bring the best young minds of Virginia together to share research with their peers and to exchange ideas. Although there are competitive aspects, the Research Symposium shines as a conference where students from all backgrounds across the state Please join us next year (as a student and/or school participant, a judge, a contributor, or a volunteer) at the 80th Annual Meeting and Research Symposium of the Virginia Junior Academy of Science. There are also many ways to be involved with the Junior Academy of Science. Please reach out to anyone below or visit us at www.vjas.org.
Submitted by Se Jeong, VJAS Committee Chair
Susan Booth, VJAS Director