Alyssa Ridenour
reporter@greenepublishing.com
Jasmine Bryan is the 18-year-old daughter of James and Joanna Bryan. Her mother, Joanna, is originally from Sudbury, Ont., Canada, and her father, James, is a Madison County native. She has one brother, James “JD” Bryan, who is an athlete.
After four years of competing in science fairs, Bryan was ecstatic to have finally won regionals and state, allowing her to move on to internationals. “She was the only one competing in school and district, so she won those by default,” said her teacher, Amanda Phillips. “However, when she went to regionals, she cleaned house, winning second overall and second in her category.” At the regionals competition, Bryan presented a large trifold board and several large binders filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of pages of data that took her several weeks to collect and amounted to nearly one-million data points in the competition. Her topic was utilizing eukaryotic saccharomyces cervisiae as an electricigen in both pure and co-culture in the anode of a microbial fuel cell.
It took months for her project to be completed and ready for presentation at the science fair. They were invited to compete in October but were not able to obtain approval from the school until November, putting them a month behind other competitors.
It was quite a struggle for Bryan to be able to compete in the science fair due to COVID concerns from the school. Initially, there were no plans for Madison County High School (MCHS) to compete in the science fair at all. After some convincing, Phillips was able to get administration to agree, giving Bryan the opportunity to compete one last time before she graduates. The science fair is completely voluntary and does not give Bryan any extra credit or grade points. It was simply something she wanted to do.
After regionals, which was held in February, Bryan moved on to state, where she had to prepare a powerpoint and interview presentation. She had interviews with the judges about her topic, where they asked her questions and tested her knowledge on the subject.
After some technical delays with the virtual awards announcement on Wednesday, April 7, they were finally able to hear the winners. “Honestly, whenever we were watching the virtual awards online and they got to second place, I didn't hear my name yet, so I knew I had to be first place,” said Bryan. “Especially with how well she did,” Phillips added.
Bryan was awarded with a $14k scholarship to the University of Central Florida and a $10k scholarship to the University of Florida (UF). She was one of only two competitors to be awarded with a scholarship from UF.
Bryan recently submitted her paperwork, with the help of Phillips, to compete in internationals, which will take place at the end of April. The internationals will be held virtually and will consist of over 2,000 competitors from around the world. Bryan will have the opportunity to meet with Nobel Peace Prize winners and sit in on science discussion panels. “I'm beyond proud,” said Phillips. “I taught her for four years, and it's been a dream of ours to get someone to the top. I'm so happy it was Jasmine. I don't think either of us can believe what happened.” Bryan expressed gratitude for everyone who helped her along the way. Her face radiated with joy. “I'm super grateful for everyone that has supported me this year,” said Bryan. “With COVID-19, there are a lot of things that could've impeded me from being able to compete. With the continued support of my parents along the way, and with the support of teachers and staff as well, I was able to be approved for the science fair, which allowed me to make it all the way to internationals.
I want to extend a thank you to everyone who has encouraged me on this journey. It has been a long road but well worth it.”
Bryan is currently in her senior year at MCHS and is also a dual enrollment student at North Florida College (NFC). Her favorite subject is science, but English follows closely behind. Bryan will graduate from MCHS in June of this year and will graduate from NFC with her general Associate of Arts degree in May of this year.
She is currently undecided on what school she wants to attend. However, she is planning on pursuing a career as a cardiovascular ultrasound (echocardiogram) technician. She was led to this decision through the familial influence of her cousin who works in that field. Bryan has a bright future ahead of her and is soon to be off to college, where several family members and close friends believe she will continue to excel.