Ben Clark Earns 1st Place at National Competition

Senior Ben Clark earned 1st place and a $100,000 college scholarship at the national finals of the Siemens Competition in Washington D.C. this morning. The year’s highest science honor for high school students was awarded to Ben for his astrophysics research on star formation.  According to their website, “The Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology recognizes remarkable talent early on, fostering individual growth for high school students who are willing to challenge themselves through science research. Through this competition, students have an opportunity to achieve national recognition for science research projects that they complete in high school. It is administered by the College Board and funded by the Siemens Foundation.” Ben’s project, The Close Binary Fraction: A Bayesian Analysis of SDSS M Dwarf Spectra – Astrophysics, provides new information on the occurrence of binary systems within M dwarf stars. For more information on Ben’s amazing project, check out this link.