When Max Kurtz, 15, won a prize at the scientific fair of his school district, he never thought that it would be affected by the Trump administration cuts to a federal agency.
But that’s exactly what happened.
In February, the second year student of Fairview secondary school presented a project in Boulder Valley School District Annual scientific fair. His project measured microbial activity in the soil, which could help farmers get the most out of their cultures.
It was part of a wider laboratory work he had done by working with a group of mentor and laboratory at the University of Colorado Boulder.
“(The farmers would in a way somehow stick this little thing in the soil,” said Kurtz. “And if the reason why all our cultures are dying or the reason why they have shortages, is due to a deficiency in microbial activity, they could then take measures to solve this problem.”
Kurtz has not progressed to the next competition series, but his project won a prize sponsored by the American agency for international development, or USAID.
The USAID Prize has been awarded to projects that have “the potential to improve lives around the world”, according to one online List of awards.
He also came with a prize: a conversation with an USAID employee to talk about his project and pursue a career in a field of science and engineering with a humanitarian objective. It was a big problem for Kurtz.
“I think that my interest in engineering is very aligned with the mission (from USAID) … Just like helping developing countries, it is also a large part of what inspired me to want to work with this laboratory for my project,” he said.
With the kind permission Max Kurtz
But in the first weeks of the Trump administration, officials sought to dismantle the agency and stop its distribution of billions of dollars in non -profit assistance and subsidies. This effort was widely successful, although a federal judge reigned in March that the USAID cuts were probably unconstitutional.
Kurtz’s price was taken in the cuts. A few days after winning, it was transmitted by e-mail of the organization which coordinates regional scientific fairs across the country, the Society of Sciences. The USAID had given this non -profit organization an arrest order, and the group had interrupted all their awards sponsored by the Federal Agency.
The Society for Science withdrew the Kurtz prize from its website and the conversation that Kurtz has been promised was canceled.
Hunter Hart is the International Program Manager of Science Sciences and Engineering. He wrote the email by inventing Kurtz and hundreds of fair organizers about the reward.
“I think we and many other organizations have somehow received this (work stoppage) when the news has become public that USAID was going to be dissolved. (He) simply said:” All the contracts we signed with you, you should not work, “said Hart.
The International Science and Engineering Fair has subsidiaries in the fifty states and 70 other countries and territories. In order to go to the Grande Fair Internationale, students must compete in regional competitions. External groups like USAID can sponsor special prices in both types of fairs, but during international competition, the issues are increasing. There, the judges will almost attribute $ 9 million in price.
Gracieuse of the Kurtz family
USAID spoke two different prizes during these competitions for more than a decade. The regional prices that Kurtz has won – with virtual conversation – and separate prices presented in the international competition with a cash price. From 2014, the federal agency gave the fair $ 300,000 as a price in all. It was also drawn this year.
A spokesperson for the State Department told CPR News that the contract “did not correspond to the standards established by Secretary Rubio for American foreign aid, which must make the United States stronger, safer or more prosperous”.
Hart estimates that around a third of the affiliated regional fairs of ISEF in the United States took place before receiving the work voucher. This includes almost all Colorado. At least another student In the state in addition to Kurtz, Kurtz also received the USAID regional prize before its withdrawal.
“Obviously, I’m not happy with what it is taken,” said Kurtz. “I’m not really upset for me, really. I will have other opportunities like this … but I think what is really overwhelming for me is the end of funding reductions like this. Because I have the impression that it is really easy to see things like this on the news and to see that the financing is cut, or that the programs disappear, and do not really understand the real and tangible impact that it has on people. “
The loss of the advantages of its price, however, did not remove Kurtz from science and engineering. He already plans to participate in the BVSD regional fair next year and he works in place a new printer part to make the soil sensor which he helped to build even better.
| This story is part of a collection which follows the impacts of the second administration of President Donald Trump on the lives of everyday coloradans. Since his entry into office, Trump has revised almost all aspects of the federal government; CPR News, KRCC and Denverite journalists are aware of what it means for you. Read more here. |
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