Student Finalist Discretionary Prizes
Awarded to students finishing in 2nd-10th place

1. Animal Planet "Whale Watch" Prize: Mathew McGuthry
Matthew will join Animal Planet's chief ocean correspondent Philippe Cousteau, Jr. on a whale watching expedition. Along the east or west coast of the U.S., he and the grandson of Jacques Cousteau will spend the day spotting these mammoth marine creatures on a sailing adventure. Along the way, Matthew will learn about our precious oceans, the marine life that inhabit it, and hear some tales of Philippe's most memorable ocean encounters.

2. Discovery Commerce "Reach for the Stars" Prize: Jack Uesugi
Discovery Commerce is pleased to present Jack with a state-of-the-art Celestron NexStar 6SE Telescope.

3. Discovery Channel "Amazing Inventions" Prize: James Kruse
James will travel to San Francisco's Treasure Island to meet the expert engineers who make up Discovery Channel's dream team of inventors on PROTOTYPE THIS: Dr. Zoz Brooks, Joe Grand, Dr. Mike North, and Terry Sandin. As part of the program, James will have the chance to visit the PROTOTYPE THIS lab, where the series is filmed and where numerous one-of-a-kind prototypes have been developed. He’ll also get to check out some of the prototypes featured on the show firsthand.

4. Discovery Health Channel "Forensics Camp" Prize: Avni Bavishi
Avni will be whisked off to upstate New York for an exciting two week experience at the Five Points summer academic program at Union College. The course of study: Forensic Science or Psychology. Avni will become a real life CSI, participating in mock crime scenes, analyzing and interpreting clues and exploring the principles and procedures of collection, preservation, documentation and analysis of physical evidence. After a whirlwind week of making new friends and exploring exciting ideas, Avni will be whisked off on a trip to New York City where he will be immersed in a real-world learning environment.

5. Lowell Observatory "Star Gazer" Prize: Margaret Botros
Margaret will enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. She'll meet professional astronomers and learn about their research. Weather permitting, she will have a chance to look through Percival Lowell's historic 24" refracting telescope, and also have a chance to visit Lowell's research station at Anderson Mesa to watch real research observations in progress.

6. Science Channel "Takes You to the BRINK" Prize: Megan Gleason
Megan will travel to New York City to meet world-renowned theoretical physicist and Science Channel personality Dr. Michio Kaku. In addition, this prize includes a guest appearance as a student correspondent on Science Channel's new weekly series Brink, which films in NYC. For the program, Megan will have the chance to interview a working scientist about his or her research, a science professor or a science journalist - the interview will be edited and become a segment for our show!

7. The Overbrook Entertainment Award: Shyamal Buch
Shyamal will have the experience of a lifetime on a behind-the-scenes visit to the set of an upcoming Overbrook Entertainment film! He’ll see the science of filmmaking and the art of acting on a working film set. Overbrook's past films have included I, Robot, The Pursuit of Happyness, I Am Legend and Hitch.

8. 3M Innovation Prize: Peter Ku
Peter will have the opportunity to see the magical path science can take to open a world of wonder and possibility. During this 1-day visit to 3M's Global headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, he will learn about exciting technology platforms like microreplication, nanotechnology, advanced materials and processing. 3M's world class Innovation Center will also introduce Peter to talented scientists who will share insights about their careers, centered around innovation. A tour of 3M's state-of-the-art analytical labs, where experiments are conducted on a daily basis, will be followed by a tour of the Science Museum of Minnesota in downtown St. Paul, known worldwide for its dynamic and interactive exhibits.

9. National Park Service Space to Sea Adventure Prize: Michael Koehler
On the National Parks Space to Sea Adventure, Michael will travel to the beautiful Florida coast for a behind-the-scenes trip to Kennedy Space Center and Canaveral National Seashore. The trip will "blast off" with a live viewing of a shuttle launch at Kennedy Space Center. After seeing the shuttle roar to space, Michael will take to the sea to assist National Park Service biologists with sea turtle monitoring and oyster reef restoration at Canaveral National Seashore.