RISEF 2025 | News | Portsmouth Abbey School, Rhode Island

Jennifer Shon '25

Alaina Zhang '25

Ryan Ma '25

Ethan Kang '26

At Portsmouth Abbey School, the study of science is a reverent search for truth, beauty and order in the created world. This spring, that spirit was on full display as four students distinguished themselves on both the state and international stages at the Rhode Island Science and Engineering Fair (RISEF) and the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the nation’s most prestigious science competition for pre-collegiate researchers.

Their achievements are remarkable not only for their competitive success but also for reflecting the School’s enduring commitment to intellectual discipline animated by moral clarity. These are not science fair “projects” in the conventional sense; they are acts of inquiry rooted in wonder, craftsmanship and a desire to serve the common good.

Two students—Jennifer Shon ’25 and Alaina Zhang ’25—earned distinction as “RISEF Best in Fair Finalists” and went on to be selected as “Finalists” for ISEF, representing the top echelon of student scientists in the country.

Shon was also honored with the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Innovation Award and a $1,000 scholarship, recognizing her extraordinary research, which stood out among hundreds of submissions for its clarity, originality, and technical acumen. Her distinction as one of the Top 2 finalists in Rhode Island placed her on the international stage at ISEF. 

Likewise, Zhang’s project was a tour de force in environmental science, drawing praise from no fewer than five prestigious organizations, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which presented her with its Taking the Pulse of the Planet Award, and the United States Air Force, which recognized her with its Excellence Award. Her work earned top honors from the Rhode Island Clean Water Association and Coastal Resources Management Council, among others, for its impact on environmental stewardship and clean water innovation.

Joining them among the top 10 in the state, Ryan Ma ’25 earned accolades from the American Chemical Society and the Rhode Island Science Teachers’ Association, whose Ida Jackson Award celebrates both academic excellence and scientific integrity. Ryan’s approach combined the careful discipline of chemistry with an acute awareness of its application to real-world challenges.

Ethan Kang ’26, already a standout as a Haney Fellow, demonstrated his deep commitment to socially impactful science. He received the “Best in Show” Award from the Rhode Island Water Works Association, which speaks to his technical fluency and deep understanding of the infrastructure challenges communities face in protecting their most vital resource.

These students are taking their places in a long and luminous tradition of Benedictine inquiry, where science is pursued not in abstraction, but in service to others and reverence for creation. Their work calls to mind the words of physicist and complexity theorist Murray Gell-Mann, who wrote, “The world turns out to be, at a deeper level, both stranger and more beautiful than we ever imagined. Our job is to explore that beauty—and to make it intelligible.” At Portsmouth Abbey, students are doing precisely that.

These students are celebrated for the accolades they have earned and the example they set. In their hands, the future of science looks not just promising, but noble.