2022-2023
Student Writers
Kaveen Goswami is a sophomore attending Monta Vista Highschool, in Cupertino, California. He fell in love with exploring new, interesting parts of science that can be used to bettter help our community. Starting off with a NSS space competition he learned the process of research and how to truly understand a topic. He joined cSw to learn other aspects of science, mainly how to research a complex topic but still be able to phrase it in a easy to understand and friendly format. He is extremely excited to be able to use his writing skills to really convey important messeges to others. Outside of the program he is a competitive tennis player, and loves to play video games with his friends.es.
Sana Haidary is a senior attending the American Embassy School in New Delhi, India. Sana’s passion for English and Biology inspired her to join cSw as a writer. She strongly believes in the importance of science literacy. Fake scientific news can have significant consequences on public health, the environment, investment in research, and innovation. She believes in increasing science literacy, to equip people to assess the veracity of news they are accessing and question vested interests. In addition to science writing, Sana is an equestrian and partakes in show juping while also enjoying, reading, and listening to music.
Minhong Kim is a junior attending an international school in South Korea. Minhong’s love for biomedical science and writing inspired him to join cSw as a writer. In his free time, Minhong enjoys playing and coaching soccer, listening to Taylor Swift, and “chilling out.”
Rita Liu attends Newport High School in Bellevue, Washington. She joined cSw to hone her research abilities and further her writing passions. Rita is excited to pursue new research as a member of the program. Rita is an avid member of her school rocketry club that will be competing in London after winning the American Rocketry national competition. She is proud to be the club’s outreach manager, as well as being the only female on leadership. In her free time, Rita enjoys hiking with her dog, creating digital art portraits, and volunteering as a teacher’s assistant for a non-profit camp.
Jasmine Li Jasmine Li is a senior at Stanford Online High School, where she is editor-in-chief of the science magazine and editor of the school newspaper. Her interests in biochemistry, writing, and their intersection led her to join cSw, through which she is excited to improve her ability to communicate science. Outside of cSw, Jasmine spends her free time interning at an analytical chemistry lab, discussing and learning about philosophy, going out with her friends, and hiking..
Anthony Matejicka III is a senior at the Academy of Allied Health and Science in Neptune, New Jersey. He joined cSw because he would like to hone his communication skills through scientific research and writing. He sees communication as an essential part of society, which is why he hopes to educate himself and others. Outside of school, Anthony enjoys helping in his church. Throughout the pandemic, Anthony recorded and live streamed the mass readings to allow immunocompromised individuals to participate in the mass. Additionally, Anthony likes to spend his time in the gym, play baseball, and is an active participant as an Emergency Medical Services cadet to serve his community. He also competes in Taekwondo tournaments, winning Texas’s state championship in 2014.
Dinesh Oggu is a junior at North Atlanta High School in Atlanta, Georgia. He joined cSw because he wants to promote science literacy as he believes it has the potential to save someone’s life. In his free time, Dinesh enjoys playing many percussive instruments, reading, drawing, and taking photos. His photos have even been published in TeenInk, and he is especially proud about earning a 7/7 on his Middle Years Program Project, which is an entrance project for the International Baccalaureate program at his school.
Tara Prakash is a sophomore at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., where she is an editor of her school’s science journal. She joined cSw because she is passionate about writing and science, and she is eager to explain scientific concepts in an accessible way for a general audience. Tara believes that, while it is crucial to our lives, science has limited value if it is not understood. As a result, she is committed to promoting science literacy. Tara also loves creative writing, and her work has been published in literary journals and magazines. Outside of the classroom, she enjoys camping with her Scouts troop, playing soccer for her school’s varsity team, and hiking with her dog.
Priya Ravi is a senior at Wilcox High School in Santa Clara, California. Inspired at an early age, Priya strongly believes in the need for universal science literacy. As a result, she decided to become a part of the cSw team, merging her interests of writing and science. In addition to being a Curious Science Writer, Priya spends her free time playing guitar, cooking, and building her CD collection. Priya also has a passion for social justice, actively participating in local rallies and community organizations. Continuing her desire for helping others, she raised $1500 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to fund cancer research.
Alyaan Salman is a student at Memphis University School in Tennessee. With a passion for biomedical science, he saw CSW as a great opportunity to explore his interest in science in a way that promotes science literacy for the general public. Alyaan is proud of his Pakistani heritage and having celiac disease, the latter sparking his interest in medicine and outreach. As a celiac, he wants information about the disease to be accessible to the 80 million people affected by the condition, for he personally knows the hardships of celiacs. Beyond CSW, Alyaan has an abundance of certifications, including YouScience 21st century skills and OSHA Health Care. He also has engaged in a Leadership Academy at Hosa Internationals and was the State TJCL Secretary. He is particularly proud of his significant service involvement at his school and around his community. In his free time, Alyaan likes lifting, playing basketball and video games, and engaging in cultural activities.
Sofia Scartascini is a junior at McLean High School in McLean, Virginia, is an avid writer and activist, who is passionate about biomedical science, storytelling, and literature. In her free time, Sofia loves to listen to music, spend time in nature, and hang out with her friends. She also enjoys a good discussion fueled by the abundance of new scientific knowledge.
Alara Seeborg is a senior located in Houston, Texas, who is eager to develop her writing skills through integrating ecology and storytelling into her work. She loves all forms of art, from mixed media and collage to cinema and poetry. She strives to find a creative angle to any project that comes her way, no matter the subject. In her free time, you can find her catching a movie, listening to music, or spending time with family and friends.
Shaurya Sharma is a sophomore based in Apex, North Carolina. As a child, he developed a passion for science, which he believes is the key to solving problems and changing lives. On the other hand, the pursuit in science did not distinguish his passion in writing and contemporary social issues. Illiteracy has a negative impact on the world. That’s why Shaurya would like to spread literacy, especially science literacy, to the public. He already has experience writing, having published 3 books like Lightning Star and Operation World War III. Shaurya is also an avid reader in the areas of fantasy, science fiction, and cutting-edge medical issues. He also likes to draw and watch political dramas criticizing the current reality, such as: House of Cards and Designated Survivor.
Eason Yang is a junior based at Trinity College School, Ontario. Although his first year at the program, he had aspired towards promoting science literacy since a young age. He believes that one of the reasons why social issues persist to be part of the healthcare challenges is because people are not able to access reliable information sources, and he would like to do something about it. Outside of CsW, he is a passionate flutist and avid reader. Eason has a particular interest in Russian and social critic literature, which is part of where his interest in social issues stemmed from. He is also an active swimmer and Thai boxer.
2021-2022
Student Writers
Sara Pearl Adler is a sophomore at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, FL where she is the Founder and President of her school’s Art Club and an active member of the Crew Team and the Technology Student Association. She is one of 14 students from her grade selected for her school’s highly selective science research program and was a 2019 Broadcom winner for Science Fair. Outside of school, she is an environmental activist who leads community-wide events that showcase the impact of climate change on South Florida. She likes both science and writing and enjoys combining the two in the Curious Science Writers program.
Ananya Balaji is a senior at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North in New Jersey. She joined cSw as a writer this year to expand her recent research publication in bioinformatics in the Journal of Research High School (JRHS). She believes that cSw is a great platform to convey complex, scientific information to the general public and an opportunity to hone in on her writing abilities. Outside of school, she plays chess, does programming and knitting, and learns new languages.
Raunak Banerjee is a sophomore at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. He pursued science writing through cSw due to his passions in STEM and journalism. Raunak believes it is vital for scientists to raise awareness for modern scientific problems through effective yet concise communication. He enjoys long discussions about STEM, books, and philosophy with his peers. In his free time, you’ll often find him playing the violin, drawing, playing soccer or tennis, and watching/reading science fiction.
Arca Baran goes to High Technology High School in New Jersey. He wrote his second article for cSw this year, after filing a story in 2020 about wearables being used in tandem with the IoT (Internet of Things) to help smokers quit their addiction. He also has been running the official cSw Twitter profile since last year as a social media coordinator. Arca has a technology and pop culture blog that has been viewed over 260 thousand times which he started 7 years ago. In his free time, he enjoys reading, writing and gaming.
Hanna Cochran enjoys practicing cello, writing poetry, and spending time outside either running or just reflecting on nature. She is the director of writing at her high school’s art and literary magazine and is currently editing her realistic fiction young adult novel to move forward to the publishing process. Apart from her philosophical side, her curiosity of the world extends into the sciences. She hopes to convey complex information in a way that is understandable to the general public so that humanity can move forward as one. She hopes to open peoples’ eyes to the wonder of science by turning complex ideas into simple and entertaining articles.
Sophia Fritsch attends Wootton high school in Maryland. This is Sophia’s first year participating in the Curious Science Writers program and she is thrilled to be apart of such a unique and constructive group. She looks forward to developing her scientific literacy skills and spreading awareness on some of the misconstrued topics in today’s media. Aside from science and writing Sophia enjoys being outdoors and traveling to new places. In her down time she enjoys a good book.
Ruby Germack is a senior at NYC iSchool in New York. This is her first year in Curious Science writers participating as a writer. She loves writing and science and especially loves when those two are combined. Outside of cSw she plays softball, tutors and spends time with family and friends!
Michael Hua is a senior from The Peddie School in New Jersey. However, he grew up in California, lived half of his life in China and only returned to the US two years ago. He loves math but science has always had a special place in his heart. In fact, he believes that everyone should have the privilege of understanding its beauty, which is why he applied to this program. In his free time, you can find him watching true crime, binging other random TV shows like Friends, hiking at almost any place and attempting challenging piano pieces.
Yoojin Jeong is a junior at Damascus High School in Damascus, Maryland. This is her first year at cSw as a writer and she looks forward to collaborating with her mentor and team. She chose to join the program because she aspires to expand on her writing and scientific literacy skills as a writer at cSw. She wants to ultimately incorporate the skills to any potential research/writing in the future. Outside of cSw, she is a competitive flutist and an active co-founder of a community organization to increase accessibility in STEM. In her free time, she loves to bake and read books on psychology.
Abigayle Kankolenski is a senior at the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology (GSMST) in Georgia. She loves to read, write and learn new and interesting things, which made her interested in writing science! She’s always had an interest in pursuing a scientific or technology-based career, so she’s really happy about the opportunity to be in this program! She looks forward to working with everyone and learning a lot in her first year with Curious Science Writers.
Danielle Lee is a junior at Biotechnology High School in New Jersey. This year she is a writer for cSw because she strongly believes that educating the public about accurate information is crucial for building knowledge and understanding. She is passionate towards both writing and science, and has written several research articles as well as published a children’s book about environmental sustainability. Additional interests include tennis, art and video editing.
Rosie Liu is a senior at Newport High School in Bellevue, Washington. She enjoys reading mystery novels, building rockets and playing quizbowl in her spare time. Her curiosity extends all throughout her daily life, where she is fascinated by new innovations to rocket launch analysis. The process of constantly refining her approach to new theories is what also thrills her. She has joined cSw for a second year in 2021 because as a budding scientific researcher, she wants to keep honing her ability to describe complex topics and to promote greater understanding between experts in different fields.
Spencer Lyudovyk is a junior at High Technology High School in New Jersey. This year, he is a writer and social media team manager for Curious Science Writers. He joined the cSw program because he believes it is crucial to educate the general public about different scientific topics, especially those relevant to their lives. He wishes to help make such information accessible for anyone who is interested as it could help people make informed decisions and prevent misinformation from spreading. Besides science communication, Spencer enjoys reading, playing guitar, programming and participating in politics.
Muskan Paliwal is a senior at West Windsor Plainsboro High School South in the greater Princeton area of New Jersey. She is excited to return as a writer for her second year at cSw. Outside of school, she is a part of HOSA – Future Health Professionals and serves as Co-Founder/President of her chapter. Additionally, Muskan is a volunteer at her local hospital and Red Cross. She is interested in pursuing a career in healthcare Through cSw, she hopes to effectively explain a complex scientific topic that can deepen her audience’s understanding.
Meera Shukla is a junior at Ridge High School in New Jersey. This year, she is became a writer for cSwCSW to contribute join to their mission of connecting the public with science through writing. She believes that in order to successfully have an impact with medical breakthroughs, science needs to be understood by everyone. Aside from science, Meera frequently participates in debate and enjoys discussing philosophy and ethics with her peers. She also enjoys playing the flute and reading.
Annika Singh is a sophomore at Mission San Jose High School in California. This is her first year participating in cSw. She joined the program as a writer, because she is passionate about science communication. She believes science should be made more accessible to the general public, and is excited to explore her interests in journalism and biology. Outside of her interests in science writing, she is an avid reader, competitive Bollywood dancer and artist.
Rajveer Singh is a junior at Peachtree Ridge High School in Atlanta. He is passionate about scientific literacy and wants to make science more accessible to the general public. He is intrigued by the use of model organisms to gain greater insight into diseases that are difficult to study in humans. This is why he chose his topic of writing about zebrafish and metastatic cancer. He also wants to refine his science communication skills, as he pursues a career as a physician. Outside of science, he enjoys football, graphic design, politics and reading.
Flavia Tripon is a senior at University of Toronto Schools in Toronto. She loves to research and joined the cSw program as a writer for the first time this year hoping for the chance to learn something new and contribute to spreading scientific literacy in some way. Apart from her love of research and writing, she always enjoys doing something artistic like painting or drawing when she has the time.
Kevin Wang is a senior at Concord Academy in Concord, Massachusetts. Although he attends school in the states, he has stayed in China since the beginning of the pandemic and is joining cSw remotely as a first-year writer. He enjoys learning about the intersection between science and literature while exploring the benefits of science writing to the general public as well as scientific communities. In his free time, he usually indulges himself in music and video games.
Audrey Yan is a junior at High Technology High School in New Jersey. This is her second year participating in cSw as a writer. She believes that by writing about science, she is not only able to learn about relevant issues but also spread information to a greater audience while simultaneously honing her communication skills. Audrey’s other interests include art, design, floristry, and music.
Bernice Zhao is a sophomore at High Technology High School in Lincroft, New Jersey. Bernice is new to Curious Science Writers this year and chose to join the program because she believes in making science communication and STEM education available and accessible to the general public. She also saw cSw as a rare opportunity to explore her interests in both creative writing and the scientific field. Outside of cSw, Bernice enjoys playing music, painting and being the co-host of a podcast.