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Many people might think of science fairs as a showcase of miniature erupting volcanoes and plants growing under fluorescent lights. But Central High School students Thomai Gastopoulos and Evangelia Athanasoula have shown the competition is much more fierce and the projects, more complex.
These 16-year-old cousins from the 1100 block of South 10th Street have a knack for Bunsen burners and beakers, which led them to compete against more than 1,500 students from 47 countries at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Albuquerque, N.M., May 13 to 19. Standing in front of 1,200 science and engineering professionals serving as judges, the girls won the Fourth Award in the Team Project division. Add that to a Best Team Project honor at the 800-person Delaware Valley Science Fair in April and these two have made their mark on the scene.
Though their efforts just recently paid off, Gastopoulos and Athanasoula have been building up to this since freshman year.
"Our biology professor, Mr. Erlick, inspired me and my cousin greatly," Athanasoula said.
Gastopoulos agreed: "Our ninth-grade biology class had the first great scientific impact on us."
Erlick introduced them to a course at the University of Pennsylvania that allowed the girls to work side-by-side with world-renowned scientists. While there, the students came upon the Robertson Lab, a program that studies diseases associated with the Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi’s sarcoma associated herpesvirus, both of which can cause many illnesses.
Now juniors, the girls have spent two years learning about the genes that multiply these viruses and what science can do to contain them.
"My cousin and I have always been a good team," Gastopoulos said of their work. "They say two heads are better than one."
Their first entry at the George Washington Carver Science Fair of Philadelphia in 2006 earned them third place. A return appearance this year bumped them up to first, which was enough to make the trip to the Delaware Valley fair.
With so many successes at such a young age, Gastopoulos said her experiences at Penn made it her top choice for college, while Athanasoula is setting her sights on Harvard University.
"Doing a project like this in high school is tough," Athanasoula said, "because the projects we’ve already started are almost impossible to be completed."
Finished or not, the girls are proud of the research they have accomplished and feel their experiences in Albuquerque have made them even more interested in their chosen field.
"It was amazing [in New Mexico] to see so many intelligent people with such passion and commitment towards science and learning," Athanasoula said.
The girls have one more year to research and learn together, but they both know that won’t be the end of their studies.
"My uncle believes that if we keep on the same path," Gastopoulos said, "that we can perform miracles someday."
