At the Delaware Valley Science Council Award Dinner, held on the evening of March 7 in Upper Darby, Pa., a senior at Moorestown Friends School Ed Gelernt received the Reuben Shaw Memorial Award with a cash prize of $1,400. This honor was a first for Moorestown Friends in 18 years of competing. The Delaware Valley Science Council recognizes talented youth in the Delaware Valley with outstanding capabilities in science and math to encourage students in the region to pursue careers in STEM fields.
Both Ed and fellow classmate Josh Murdy were named finalists, based on the results of two three-hour exams administered in November at the University of the Sciences and interviews conducted in January.
Science department chair Dr. Barb Kreider encouraged students to participate in the Science Council’s program, and she also acted as advisor for Ed’s senior capstone project on heart disease research.
“When it comes to science, Ed is a naturally curious person,” said Kreider. “He has pursued his interests in cardiac health within our curriculum, on our Deborah Heart Challenge Team, and in the context of his capstone project in the laboratory of MFS parent, Michael Milone, MD, PhD at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. I have heard him describe his research to professors, post-docs, grad students, high school teachers, high school students and his grandparents. Ed is an effective speaker in all these venues, and that bespeaks a strong understanding of the subject material. Ed’s enthusiasm and drive is a credit to his teachers, his family, and himself.”
In college, Ed plans to study computational biology. Outside of the sciences, Ed has been involved with jazz ensemble, the student newspaper Wordsworth, swimming and golf.
