On Saturday, April 11, Fremont-based group Vitality Biosciences took first place in the California Envirothon held in Santa Monica. Vitality is a student-run, non-profit organization that functions as a competition team, as well as a research laboratory. Their current focus is on harmful algal blooms and community awareness regarding it.
The winning team consisted of Irvington students Geetika Maheshwari (11), Mai-Ha Nghiem (11), Cynthia Yu (11) and Alex Zhou (11), as well as Mission San Jose student Kelly Lock (11).
Envirothon, which took place in the UCLA Stunt Ranch Reserve in the mountains of Santa Monica, is an environmental science and natural resources competition for teams of high school students. The competition had both testing and presentation components. Diverse environmental science topics — soil, forestry, water resources and wildlife — made up the theme of the competition, and had to be thoroughly researched and prepared by the competing members.
In order to prepare for the exam portion, each team member studied a topic individually, then revised together. Since the exam itself was so unpredictable, members had to be ready for any topic to show up — even studying insect identification, with Lock saying, “I learned how to identify insects. And I studied that for a really, really long time.”
The presentation scenario, based on the National Conservation Foundation’s theme, was focused on the theme of “Non-Point Source Pollution – it Begins at Home!” according to the California Envirothon website. Essentially, the competing themes had to come up with a statewide plan to combat non-point source pollution, which is a type of pollution where the source is not obvious. The theme was given a week prior to the competition, giving the team limited time to prepare and research policies to implement.
Despite logistical challenges with timing and coordination, the team pulled through. “As a team, it was really nice because we were all in it together,” said Lock.
“We didn’t expect to win, honestly, because we are a NorCal team, and we were competing against SoCal teams,” Nghiem explained. “The moment that we won, I remember I was really happy and shocked.” After completing the competition, the team was able to explore Santa Monica. “Outside of teammates, they’re also my friends, so we were able to have quality time together,” she added.
After qualifying for NCF Envirothon 2026, the annual national competition, which is set at Mississippi State University this year, the team will begin studying Mississippi’s environment to prepare.
