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VAN BUREN, Maine (WAGM) – A junior from Van Buren District School is taking flight in the world of science. Gavin Gagnon has been awarded a prestigious Science Research Grant from the Marjot Foundation, a private nonprofit that supports independent environmental research projects by high school students across New England and New York.
Van Buren junior Gavin Gagnon has been studying the connection between bird behavior and weather patterns. Work that just earned him a Science Research Grant from the Marjot Foundation. To receive the award, he submitted a detailed research plan showcasing both his passion for the project and his potential as a young scientist. Although, he says he was a bit late applying. “I started off with the grant it was about 1 or 2 weeks before the actual deadline was due. I was very last minute getting to the grant. I applied for my grant. In order to apply I must be a high school student in New England. They only give 2 out a year 1 in the spring, 1 in the fall and I applied and I ended up getting it.”
The project began as Gagnon’s freshman-year science fair project. As his research has continued to grow he says the funding has been vital. “I’m using the funds from the grant to bring my science fair project to the next level. My science fair project is studying barometric pressure and how it affects songbirds feeding behaviors and in order to get the proper instruments for me to actually conduct this study this year I needed to find a way to get some sort of funding and I’m very thankful for the organization that gave me the funding for this grant. The biggest thing I got was 3 tempest wind weather systems. It’s an instrument that allows me to record barometric pressure, wind speed, temperature. I also got things, so just feeders and feed because feed can add up quite a bit especially running a project through the course of winter.” With these funds Gagnon will be able to expand his research and keep exploring his love of nature.
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