The Municipality of Santiago, in a ceremony presided over by Mayor Felipe Alessandri, presented an award to Antonia Campos and Daniela Gutierrez, 12th-grade students at Liceo Javiera Carrera, and to teacher Roxana Nahuelcura Lobos, who, together with Professor César Ramírez of the Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering and doctoral students in Engineering Sciences Javiera Reyes and José Alejandro Molina, developed a school project to detect Antarctic bacteria that degrade PET plastic, a pollutant that poses a risk to marine and terrestrial environments.
The school project, titled “Identification and Evaluation of Antarctic Bacteria Capable of Degrading PET,” involved the development of a solid culture medium containing this polymer; in the presence of Antarctic bacteria that degrade PET at low temperatures, this medium produces a degradation halo.
This project and its results were presented by the students and teacher from Liceo Javiera Carrera at various national and international events. Notably, the project was recognized as one of the six highest-rated projects at the 13th Explora CONICYT Regional Congress (RM) in 2018 and was selected as one of five projects to participate in the 19th Explora CONICYT National School Congress on Science and Technology in 2018, the qualification earned at the 2018 National EXPOCIENCIAS, organized by Milset Amlat and Club Ciencias Chile, to participate in EXPOCIENCIAS Costa Rica 2019, and the first-place finish at this most recent international school congress, which will allow them to represent Chile in May 2020 at a global science fair to be held in the Central American country—an achievement that earned them recognition from the Municipality of Santiago.
The students from Liceo Javiera Carrera noted that their first-place finish in the international competition was due to the fierce competition from a dozen other projects, many of which focused on robotics. At the ceremony, they took the opportunity to thank their families, teachers, Liceo Javiera Carrera, and the group of scientists from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile for their support. At the same time, the Director of Municipal Education, Yoris Rojas Vlastelica, took the opportunity to congratulate the students and to acknowledge the commitment of all these stakeholders to fostering the students’ fascination with science. In addition, the overall commitment of the Javiera Carrera High School and the team at the Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering to promoting women’s participation in science was highlighted.
The ceremony was attended by Mayor Felipe Alessandri, Director of Education Yoris Rojas Vlastelica, City Councilwoman Adriana Morán, Javiera Carrera High School Principal Inés Aqueveque, students Antonia Campos and Daniel Gutierrez and their parents, Professor César Ramírez, doctoral students in Engineering Sciences Javiera Reyes and José Molina, and the Javiera Carrera High School parents’ association “Todos Somos Liceo 1.”
