Aidan Gregerson

Aidan Gregerson comes from the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i, where he graduated from Kaua’i High School. This unique experience of growing up on a small island has exposed him to global and social issues that inspired his passion to conduct research in various fields for the betterment of all. He plans to pursue a double major in Biomedical Engineering and Applied Mathematics on the pre-med track. His ultimate goal is to receive an MD and specialize as an infectious disease physician and researcher.

Aidan’s experience with research first began in his freshman year of high school, with a study involving differences in soil nutrient usage among native Hawaiian plants and comparative invasive species. Though the project was modest, he reached the Kaua’i District Regional Science and Engineering Fair and was awarded by the National Tropical Botanical Garden, inspiring his regular participation with science fair and desire to continue improving his research.

In his sophomore year, he received mentorship from Dr. Mark Petersen of Los Alamos National Laboratory for a new science fair project relating tropical cyclone frequency and a self-made model of translation speed with El Niño-Southern Oscillation sea-surface temperature anomalies. Ultimately, this project was awarded at multiple levels by institutions such as NOAA, and the project reached both the Hawai’i State Science and Engineering Fair and the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). Though COVID-19 canceled or prevented him from attending these events, his passion remained strong. During his junior year, he submitted an edited version of his work to the International Journal of High School Research where it was later accepted and reviewed for publication, while he used the same work as a submission to the Pacific Symposium for Science and Sustainability at which he was recognized as a semi-finalist. As a senior, Aidan chose to spend considerable time to further revise and review this project and ultimately submitted it to the Regeneron Science Talent Search.

For his third and final submission for science fair, Aidan developed a project as a junior that compared existing predictions of sea-level rise and developed a new standardized model, which once again qualified him for the Hawai’i state fair. For his work, he was awarded by the likes of NASA and the American Meteorological Society.

Though all of his projects have been environmental, Aidan has biomedical research he dreams of conducting at Columbia University, which has thankfully become a reality due to the generous Egleston Scholars Program. These projects were too advanced to be studied on Kaua’i due to the required equipment. His dream research includes a mathematical analysis of tumor cell decision-making using game theory and a study of using EEG patterns to crudely model images conceived in a participant’s mind.

Outside of his life as a researcher, he is a dedicated climate activist and works with community outreach organizations to help disadvantaged students. For several years, he participated in activist groups such as the “Climate Crew” organized by the Blue Planet Foundation, a nonprofit climate advocacy organization based in Hawai’i. As a part of this small cohort, he completed several small community projects aimed at increasing the energy efficiency of homes on Kaua’i in collaboration with the County of Kaua’i. In addition, he collaborated with the community outreach organizations Leadership Kaua’i and the Kaua’i Resilience Project to encourage disadvantaged youth to participate in beneficial activities and work toward building a sustainable future for themselves and Kaua’i as a whole.

Aidan has also participated in Kaua’i High School’s golf and cross-country teams. He served as the president for Kaua’i High School’s chapters of the National Honor Society, Computer Science Honor Society, and Science National Honor Society, while also having co-founded and been the vice-president of the Climate Action Club and the secretary for HOSA. Aidan is an avid musician, able to play the clarinet, piano, and electric guitar, and he is a computer programmer in python.