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Students participate in Hypothetica Journal’s summer fellowship

Hopkinton High School students Keemia Voz (left), Ashwika Penmatsa and Caitlin Pletcher introduced the Hypothetica Journal program to the school’s Stem Club.

Three Hopkinton High School students who participated in a scientific summer research fellowship have brought the opportunity to two classmates in the school’s STEM Club

HHS senior Ashwika Penmatsa mentored juniors Keemiara Voz and Caitlin Pletcher during the inaugural Hypothetica Journal research fellowship program this summer.

“Hypothetica Journal is an international, youth-led nonprofit where students can explore any research topic they’re curious about, as creative, ambitious, or unusual as they want, as long as it’s factual,” according to its LinkedIn page.

Penmatsa noted that Voz and Pletcher were two of the 28 fellows selected from an international pool of more than 550 applicants.

“Although Hypothetica connects students from many different places, having students from our own town participate has been meaningful,” stated Penmatsa in an email. “It shows that students from a community like Hopkinton can take part in research alongside peers from around the world while still bringing their own interests and perspectives to the work.”

The fellows developed their own research projects and pursued them from the end of June until early September.

Pletcher and Voz researched whether the presence of a group of chemicals known as PFAS would affect the probability of people developing glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain cancer, if released into urban water catchment areas.

PFAS are perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl synthetic substances, potentially harmful chemicals used in household products and industrial processes. The presence of PFAS in Hopkinton’s water system has concerned residents for several years.

The fellows met weekly to share their research methodologies and discuss their results with Penmatsa.

Stated Penmatsa: “By the end of the summer, an initial question they were curious about had developed into a much more complete and structured research project.”

Penmatsa helped create a review board for their project from universities that included Northeastern and Duke, she added.

Penmatsa, Pletcher and Voz introduced the program to the STEM Club. Two other students are participating now.

“We have now begun leading a Hopkinton cohort through the process of starting their own research projects,” shared Penmatsa. “They will start developing their research questions and will continue working throughout the winter and into the spring.

“Our goal is to show students that meaningful research does not have to begin at a major university or in a distant laboratory,” she continued. “It can begin in a high school classroom in a small town with a question that a student genuinely wants to answer.”

— MARY ELLEN GAMBON

Latest News

Hopkinton High School fall sports teams will kick off their postseasons this weekend in the first rounds of the Division 1 state tournaments.

This week’s Baypath Adoptable Animals are Mimi and Bentley, a bonded pair of dogs looking for an adult-only home with patient, consistent owners.

Raymond Gendreau, 84, died Oct. 31. He was a former resident of Hopkinton and member of the Veterans Celebration Committee.

The Primarily Potters Show and Sale will be held Nov. 20-21 at the Hopkinton Historical Society.

Photo of the Day

Paddleboats at the Hopkinton Reservoir sit on the boathouse dock on a recent day.

PHOTO/AMIT JAGDALE