Five Rye Country Day School students have been selected as international finalists in the GENIUS Olympiad, a prestigious global competition recognizing outstanding high school research projects focused on environmental issues and sustainability.

Representing RCDS as international finalists are:

• Aarush Dey ’27 – Vegetation as a Nature-Based Countermeasure for Bridge Scour Mitigation
• Charlie MacGuffie ’28 and Thomas Yan ’28 – The Wildcat Robot
• Juliette Moore ’27 – A Sustainable Approach to Water Purification of Escherichia Coli and Other Coliform Bacteria Using Thymus Vulgaris and Syzygium Aromaticum Essential Oils
• Daphne Panie ’27 – Experimental Evaluation of Chemical, Mineral, and Biological Buffering of Long Island Sound Seawater Under Open Versus Sealed Air-Water Exchange Conditions

The GENIUS Olympiad is an international high school competition that celebrates student-led projects addressing environmental issues through scientific research, engineering, innovation, and creative problem-solving.

At the international finals from June 9-13 at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, NY, Charlie MacGuffie ’28 and Thomas Yan ’28 received a Bronze Award for their robotics project, The Wildcat Robot.

“The recognition of these students as international finalists is a testament to their curiosity, dedication, and commitment to addressing real-world environmental challenges through scientific research. Their projects reflect the kind of innovative thinking and problem-solving we strive to cultivate through our sustainability and science programs.”
— Kerry Linderoth, Director of Sustainability