Westminster College has announced the winners from the 18th annual Student Symposium on the Environment held on campus on Thursday, Dec. 4.

More than 140 regional graduate students, college students and high school students attended the symposium featuring environment-focused research, projects, internships, service work and artwork. 

Schools represented included Westminster College, Chatham University, Dickinson College, Duquesne University, Geneva College, Hiram College, Saint Vincent College, Slippery Rock University, Thiel College, University of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, Youngstown State University, Knoch High School in Saxonburg, Pa., Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy in Boalsburg, Pa., and Wilmington Area High School.

Seventy-one projects were presented among six main categories: Environmental Research Posters, Environmental Project Posters, Oral Presentations, High School Research Posters, Creative Works and Video Production.

Winners were:

Chatham University student Abigail Barton earned first prize for her research poster presentation “Relationship of Hydrophyte Structural Complexity and Macroinvertebrate Diversity in a Northeastern Wetland.”

Shelby Rambo of Westminster College won for her environmental project poster presentation “Hands-On Conservation: A Field Internship with the Soil & Water Conservation District.” Rambo is a senior environmental science major from East Palestine, Ohio.

Earning top prize for their oral presentation “An Integrated Study of Water Quality, Biodiversity, and Stakeholder Perception of Passive Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage on PA State Game Lands 095” were Westminster senior environmental science majors Rambo, Hallie Hughes of Jeannette, Pa., Avery Keenan of Cranberry, Pa., Talia Kosonovich of Newell, W.Va., Jamie Robertson of Lake Balboa, Calif., Rachel Summers of Harmony, Pa., and Nicholas Vitale of New Castle, Pa.

Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy students Caleb Foytack, Madison Koshko, Gordon Kauffman and Thomas Rokita took first place in the high school research poster category with “An Analysis of Water Quality in Centre County, PA.”

Westminster sophomore Morgan Myers of Ellwood City, Pa., garnered first place in the Creative Works category with her watercolor, field guide scientific illustration “Nighthawk.”

In the Video Production category, Westminster junior music major Elena Macdonald of Atlantic Heights, N.J., took first place with her video “Buzzfeed Macro Photography Reflection.”

Honorable Mentions went to:

• Hiram College’s Lillian Katz and Archie Ladage for their research poster presentation “Impacts of Beech Leaf Disease on Photosystem I in Healthy and Unhealthy American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) Leaves.”
• Westminster College’s Avery Keenan for his environmental project poster “Developing Field Experience and Professional Expertise Through an Environmental Consulting Internship.”
• Chatham University’s Elizabeth Long for her oral presentation “Effects of Macrobenthic Invertebrates on Ammonium Fluxes in Bellingham Bay.”
• Knoch High School’s Caden Hassler for his high school research poster “Better Burps.”
• Westminster College’s Phoebe Schultz, a fine art major from Transfer, Pa., for her photograph “Buzzing” in the Creative Works category.
• Valen Henry, a Westminster College environmental science major from Harrisburg, Pa., for the video production of “Final reflection on macro photography.”

Winners selected in the symposium’s six categories were awarded cash prizes sponsored by BioMost Inc. and Stream Restoration Inc. All awardees also received a certificate.

The 19th Student Symposium on the Environment will be held on Thursday, Dec. 3, 2026. The annual event is sponsored by the Harms Center for the Environment at Westminster College and the Slippery Rock Watershed Coalition.

For more information, please contact Dr. Helen Boylan, professor of environmental science, at boylanhm@westminster.edu.

Pictured from top to bottom: Best oral presentation to Westminster Environmental Capstone students with their advisers; Shelby Rambo for best environmental project poster; Avery Keenan for honorable mention environmental project poster.

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