Science Heroes Home Page > Ilyana Rosenberg

Ilyana Rosenberg

OMSI: Where were you born? Where did you grow up?

IR: I was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, although I spent one year living in Israel when my family took a sabbatical there.

OMSI: What three words best describe you?

IR: Adventurous, spunky, and friendly.

OMSI: Please tell us about a mentor or teacher who helped to inspire your interest in science.

IR: Jan Migaki is a great mentor! She has been my middle school science teacher. She helps us in the lab. She motivates students to think out of the box.

OMSI: What's the worst trouble you ever got into in school?

IR: I don't get into trouble.

OMSI: Have you ever blown anything up?

IR: No. :-)

OMSI: Describe a difficult situation that you were in and how you handled it.

IR: We lived in Jerusalem during the current Intifada. While for some that would be a difficult situation, it made me realize that news reports aren't always what they seem.

OMSI: What do you like to do in your free time?

IR: I do competitive gymnastics, training at least 9 hours a week, not including meets. I also ride horses each week and do a lot of cross country skiing in the winter. And, I love to read.

OMSI: What is your favorite class this year?

IR: Science!

OMSI: What do you consider your very best skill?

IR: I work well with people, making them feel comfortable in uncomfortable situations.

OMSI: Please tell us about your science fair project. How did you come up with the idea for your project? How did you go about researching and building your project? What was it like to participate in the science fair, and what do you remember most from the fair?

IR: I worked with two other persons on the science project. We attempted to clone frogs. Our science teacher told us about cloning frogs and it sounded quite interesting. I was always interested in cloning (I am a twin), and when she told us about the possibility I became even more interested. I did some work with planaria by cutting them in different places and seeing which place produced the best outcome. This work in planaria also led to my interest in frog cloning. We obtained frog eggs and using a scalpel we cut them in the blastula stage. Then, we put the cloned eggs (those cut in half) and control eggs (frog eggs that were not cut) into separate containers and we observed their growth. It was fun and a great experience to participate in the science fair.

OMSI: If you were to build your science fair project again, would you do anything differently?

IR: I would definitely spend more time on the display poster. I thought that there would be a greater opportunity to discuss the project with judges, but that wasn't the case, which disappointed our group. For the research, I would apply a growth hormone to the water to assist in frog growth. I would also use larger eggs. The eggs we used were small, which made precise cutting difficult.

OMSI: Please tell us about your educational plans and goals.

IR: I am open to possibilities, but I expect that college and graduate school will be part of my future.