In this day and age, new advancements within the STEM community continue to enhance and push forward the never-satisfied quench for knowledge, and anyone can bring anything to the table, no matter how young or old they are. This is why our school promotes events such as Science Fair, in order to enhance and push students to think outside of the box and innovate a new idea for the science community. Today, we’ll be interviewing one of our Knights in the Spotlight: Gabe Huffman, the 2nd place winner in the Animal Sciences category, to open our eyes to what the STEM community has to offer for this generation of scientific innovators.

Q: What made you interested in animal sciences? What was your project specifically about? 

A: In freshman year, when I took biology, I ended up liking it a lot and became very interested in life sciences and animals in general. So, when the science fair came around, I decided to do my project on something in animal sciences. My project was analyzing the effect of temperature on the development time of blowflies. This would allow for applications in the medical and forensic world.

Q: How long have you been working on your project? Did you learn anything insightful and beneficial for the future? 

A: I started this project early on in the year, but many of the analysis skills that I had to use were learned from projects in previous years. These analysis methods that I have learned to use will probably end up being very useful in the future since I want to pursue a career in biological research.

Q: Have you done any other research in animal sciences? What about other categories of science? 

A: All of my projects have been in the animal sciences category, but my previous ones focused on analyzing how temperature affects the movement patterns of porpoise whales off the coast of Maryland. This was a fun project but didn’t have many applications to human life, which is why I shifted my attention to blowflies.

Q: What is your favorite animal and why?

A: I think that my favorite animal is the pig. I honestly don’t know why; it just always has been since I was young because they’re cute and it’s interesting how they are more intelligent than what meets the eye.

Having events such as Science Fair is important for young minds who want to pursue a career in STEM as this allows them the opportunity to get a head start in their careers. It’s also a great opportunity for colleges to notice you, especially if you get first place in a competitive category. In any case, just because someone is younger than you, doesn’t make them less wise or experienced. Surprising to many people, children are actually quite perceptive and understanding, even if they don’t seem like it. Considering how the younger generation is still learning and open to new ideas, that makes them more able to delve into unexplored topics and think of creative solutions to any problem. Whether you want to pursue STEM or another career field, don’t ever underestimate your abilities because you may never know what you’re truly capable of until you try.