Indianz.Com > News > Native America Calling: Science excellence among Native students
native america calling
Native America Calling
Listen to Native America Calling every weekday at 1pm Eastern.
Alternate Links: Native Voice One | NAC
Native America Calling: Science excellence among Native students
Monday, March 17, 2025
nativeamericacalling.com   nativeamericacalling   nativeamericacalling

Science excellence
Two Native students are among the recent winners of one of the most prestigious science research competitions for high school students.

Logan Lee (Native Hawaiian) and Ava Grace Cummings (Lumbee and Coharie) placed in the top 10 among thousands of contestants in the Regeneron Science Talent Search. It’s the first time two Indigenous students were awarded prizes in the competition’s 83-year history.

Join Native America Calling to hear about Native students and their drive for science excellence.

Society for Science: Meet Ava Cummings, 2nd Place Winner of the 2025 Regeneron STS

From Regeneron and the Society for Science:
Second place and $175,000 went to Ava Grace Cummings, 18, of Smithfield, North Carolina, for creating a fruit fly model of STAC3 disorder, or Native American myopathy (a rare genetic muscle disease). She found that the common nettle herb, alone or combined with the experimental drug Tirasemtiv, improved movement in both adult flies and larvae.

Society for Science: STS 2025 Finalist Logan Lee

From Regeneron and the Society for Science:
Fourth Place: Logan Lee 18, of Honolulu, Hawaii received a $100,000 award for helping sterile male mosquitoes survive in the wild. These males are important in mosquito control. Logan improved their survival by giving them a transplant of wild mosquito bacteria. His transplant helped the sterile mosquitoes grow faster and survive better in the wild.

Also, check in on a children’s book highlighting the enduring connection between the Choctaw Nation and Ireland. Kindred Spirits: Shilombish Ittibachvffa comes to you from author Leslie Stall Widener and illustrator Johnson Yazzie.

PragmaticMom – Mia Wenjen: Unboxing Kindred Spirits: Shilombish Ittibachvffa by Leslie Stall Widener

Guests on Native America Calling
Ava Grace Cummings (Lumbee and Coharie), senior at North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics

Logan Lee (Native Hawaiian), senior at ‘Iolani School in hawaii

Leslie Stall Widener (Choctaw), author of Kindred Spirits: Shilombish Ittibachvffa

All Episodes on Spotify | More Options
Search
Filed Under
Tags
More Headlines
Native America Calling: Tribes ponder blood quantum alternative
Defense bill snubs Indian Country in favor of Lumbee federal recognition
NAFOA: 5 Things You Need to Know this Week (December 8, 2025)
Chuck Hoskin: Cherokee Nation benefits from extension of health care credits
Native America Calling: Tribal museums reflect on tumultuous year, chart their next steps
Press Release: National Museum of the American Indian hosts Native art market
AUDIO: Sea Lion Predation in the Pacific Northwest
Native America Calling: Tribal colleges see an uncertain federal funding road ahead
Native America Calling: Short films taking on big stories
Native America Calling: Advocates push back against new obstacles to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives momentum
Native America Calling: For all its promise, AI is a potential threat to culture
NAFOA: 5 Things You Need to Know this Week (November 24, 2025)
Chuck Hoskin: Cherokee Nation invests in rural transportation
Native America Calling: Native candidates make strides in local elections
National Congress of American Indians returns incumbents and welcomes newcomers to leadership
More Headlines