May 19th, 2025

Recognizing the 2025 Honorable Mention Awardees

Genes in Space is proud to announce this year's Honorable Mention awardees. This year, 759 teams from a record 263 schools across 41 states and territories submitted proposals. These ten exceptional teams demonstrated remarkable creativity and scientific insight in their proposed DNA analysis experiments addressing the unique challenges of space exploration.

While the competition culminates in selecting Finalists whose experiments may travel to the International Space Station, the Honorable Mention distinction recognizes outstanding potential and innovative thinking of a wider pool of students. In recognition of their achievement, each of the ten Honorable Mention teams will receive a DNA Discovery System for their school, including a miniPCR® mini8X thermal cycler, a blueGel™ electrophoresis system, and a 2-20 µl micropipette.

2025 Honorable Mention Awardees:

  • Ambika Krishnamoorti (16) from Post Oak School in Houston, TX
  • Arman Mahmud (17) and Anirudh Ankem (17) from International Academy in Bloomfield Hills, MI
  • Catherine Giesen (17) from Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, TX
  • Conner Wang (14) from Polytechnic School in Pasadena, CA
  • Gafoor Khan (16) from Harmony School of Innovation in Dallas, TX
  • Justin Zhao (18) and James Zhang (17) from Jericho Senior High School in Jericho, NY
  • Nandita Srikumar (16) and Nithya Natesan (17) from Solon High School in Solon, OH
  • Paridhi Goel (15) and Srimuktha Lanka (15) from Lambert High School in Suwanee, GA
  • Subiksha Srinivasan Vidya (17) from The Charter School of Wilmington in Wilmington, DE
  • Xuyang Zhang (18) from American Heritage Schools in Plantation, FL

Genes in Space is committed to fostering the next generation of scientists and engineers. By providing these schools with cutting-edge biotechnology tools, we aim to empower these students and cultivate interest in space research and scientific innovation. Congratulations again to all of our Honorable Mention Awardees, and stay tuned for our Finalist announcement this week!

Posted in Genes in Space 2025, Awards.