Benjy F. takes 1st place in national Regeneron STS competition!

Benjamin Jacob Firester, 18, of New York, N.Y., developed a mathematical model which predicts how disease data and weather patterns could spread spores of the “late blight” fungus that caused the Irish Potato Famine and still causes billions of dollars in crop damages annually. Benjy’s program uses existing blight locations, date, time and detailed local weather data to model the likely routes by which late blight will spread and predict likely future infection sites. Farmers might someday use shared data to assess blight risk and reduce the preemptive use of fungicide.

We are so proud of Benjy's extraordinary accomplishment.  He is the fourth national STS winner in HCHS's history, joining Westinghouse STS winner Amy Reichel in 1981, Westinghouse STS winner Adam Cohen in 1997, and Intel STS winner David Bauer in 2005.

Congratulations to Benjy, his family (including sister Kalia Firester, national finalist in 2015), his lab partners and mentors, and his extraordinary teachers at HCHS.