Research on radon gas, the history of rock and roll and bee pollination were among the 2019 Iowa State Fair 4-H projects recognized by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences with a LAS Future Discovery Award. LAS awarded 10 Future Discovery Awards at the fair. The $500 scholarships are presented to 4-H youth whose State Fair projects demonstrate innovation, curiosity and scholarship that is foundational to a liberal arts and sciences education. The scholarships are awarded to each recipient upon the student’s enrollment at ISU in a liberal arts and sciences major.
This year’s LAS judges included Dan Rice, LAS outreach adviser and transfer relations coordinator; Megan Myers, assistant professor of world languages and cultures; Terrill Chalmers; Elizabeth Zimmerman, LAS advising; Dawn Walker-Chalmers, adviser for the mathematics and statistics departments; and Kent Kerby, LAS assistant dean.
“The quality of Iowa State Fair 4-H projects is always very impressive and shows that there are exceptional students throughout the state,” said Rice. “Judges were very impressed with the ones we selected for scholarships. The original research and writing in many cases were some of the best since the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences initiated these awards six years ago.”
2019 LAS Future Discovery Award recipients
- Wyatt Bailey, Polk County, charcoal drawing
- Josie Boyler, Dubuque County, family history project
- Zachary Campbell, Story County, 3-D animation app
- Caden Epp, Wapello County, task-tracking app
- Kelsey Holdgrafer, Jackson County, creator of a newspaper and radio station
- Alexandria Klein, Carroll County, creative writing and computer programming
- Natalie Lobeck, Bremer County, radon gas research
- Jareth Long, Humboldt County, study of rock and roll history
- Audra Penning, Plymouth County, research on clinical depression
- Taylor Williams, Crawford County, bee pollination study