Colleen Schiele, a sixth-grade student from Holy Cross Regional Catholic School in Collegeville, earned a second-place award in the earth and space science category of the Delaware Valley Science Fair (DVSF) which was held March 31 at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks.

Students in grades six through eight who were first- or second-place winners in regional science fairs in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware competed against one another in the middle school division of the fair.

Schiele’s project, “Stop that Wave,” placed second in her category at the Montgomery County Science Research Competition. In her project, she investigated which barrier would best protect a shoreline from a tsunami.

Schiele designed and conducted an experiment to test four barrier types. Her results showed that mangroves along a shoreline provided the best protection from the destructive force of a tsunami.

She also won two special awards, a Broadcom Masters Award and an award from the Pennsylvania Council of Professional Geologists.