Last week, Nidhya Shivakumar, grade 7, was named one of the top 300 students nationwide from the 2,499 middle school students nominated for this year’s Broadcom MASTERS science competition. Her project, titled “Halophytes: A Potential Solution for the Remediation of Soil in Saline Wastelands,” was selected by a panel of science and engineering professionals, who evaluated projects based on originality, creativity, analysis of data and other criteria.

If named one the 30 national finalists, Shivakumar will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., for the final stage of the competition in October, where more than $100,000 in awards will be distributed. Best of luck!