Wantagh High School senior Evelyn Caputo placed third in the animal science category during the second round of the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair. She presented her independent research project on March 13 at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury.

Projects submitted for the first round of LISEF were judged virtually, and approximately 15% of applicants advanced to the in-person semifinal round. Expert scientists met with all of the participants and Evelyn was able to share her research about the spotted lantern fly. 

Last summer’s spotted lantern fly invasion piqued the interest of many Long Islanders including Evelyn. Upon doing some preliminary research, she read that the milkweed flowering plant could be poisonous to the insects. Evelyn set up an experiment placing spotted lantern flies in nets with two different types of milkweed. In the control group, the lantern flies were with grape plants. She observed that they died at a higher and faster rate with the milkweed than with the grape plants during the month she monitored the nets.

Following her experiment, Evelyn used Google Colab to write and run Python code to analyze her results. She was encouraged by science research Casey Clark to use coding to compile statistical data, and found it to be a very useful tool. The program produced charts and graphs that helped her analyze her results. 

Evelyn’s interests in spotted lantern flies began when she was visited family in Pennsylvania and saw the insects a few years before they arrived on Long Island. This past summer, she volunteered with the Town of Hempstead’s Conservation and Waterways department in Lido Beach, where one of her tasks was spotted lantern fly control. After high school, she wants to continue her scientific endeavors in college and pursue a career either in medicine or research.

“It’s exciting to know that people saw my research and found it interesting that they want to see more of it,” she said of advancing to the second round of LISEF.

In addition to the third place award in animal science, Evelyn also received a Special Achievement award from the United States Air Force for aerospace and technology-related research excellence, and the Genius Olympiad and International Journal of High School Research Award. The latter will give Evelyn the chance to present her research at the Genius Olympiad and publish in the International Journal of High School Research.

Carol-Ann Winans, Wantagh’s executive director for curriculum and instruction, commended Evelyn on her commitment to her research and contributions to the scientific community. 

“We are so pleased that Evelyn was not only accepted into the second round of the prestigious Long Island Science and Engineering Fair, but also came home with multiple awards,” she said. “This is a high-level competition that brings together the best young scientists from across Long Island. We are proud of her accomplishment and wish her much success in her future scientific endeavors.”