Hidden Valley High School Senior Franziska Borneff has been announced as a winner of the prestigious ACM/CSTA Cutler-Bell Prize for High School Computing. This award recognizes outstanding computer science students who excel in their studies while facing challenges outside the classroom. Borneff submitted a project that showcased her use of modern technology and computer science skills, which impressed a panel of judges who selected her as a winner based on the ingenuity, complexity, relevance, and originality of her work.
Borneff’s project focused on monitoring the flow rates of Arctic rivers, which play a crucial role in detecting climate change. She became interested in studying these rivers after reading news articles about climate change and decided to conduct research on this topic. Borneff specifically analyzed the relationship between the atmosphere and waterways, focusing on air temperature, river discharge, and sea ice concentration as key data points. By collecting daily statistics from publicly available sources for six major Arctic rivers, she was able to plot trends and analyze the rivers’ thaw dates, which were occurring earlier than ever before.
In addition to analyzing data from Arctic rivers, Borneff collaborated with students from Yupik Eskimo Village in Alaska to understand how the early thaw was affecting the local community. She found that it was disrupting the ecosystem and posing an uncertain future for the Yupik people. Through her research, Borneff hopes to inspire further studies on Arctic regions and draw political attention to the pressing climate issues that affect not only Arctic communities but also global ecosystems.
As a recipient of the award, Borneff received a $10,000 financial aid award that will be used towards her tuition at university in fall 2024. She will be formally recognized at the Computer Science Teachers Association’s Annual Conference in Las Vegas in July 2024. This achievement highlights Borneff’s dedication to computer science and her commitment to addressing real-world challenges through her research.
