Benjamin Mark Van Doren
New York
White Plains High School
Benjamin Mark Van Doren, 18, of White Plains, explored the purpose of morning flight, a poorly understood behavior of nocturnal migratory birds,
for his animal sciences Intel Science Talent Search submission. Benjamin combined topographical and weather data to determine that autumn morning
flight is important for accurately orienting during long migrations and is affected by environmental conditions and manmade structures. He demonstrates
that morning flights tend to orient into the wind, with potential implications for the expansion of cityscapes and industrial-scale wind power generation.
Benjamin’s work garnered interest from other ornithologists, appearing in North American Birds and presented at a symposium of the Association of
Field Ornithologists. He serves on his city’s Sustainability and Environmental Enhancement Committee and facilitated the designation of five new parcels
of parkland in White Plains. He also spent three weeks on a remote Maine island studying the behavior of at-risk seabirds. Benjamin is first in his class
of 500 at White Plains High School where he is captain of the track team and earned perfect SAT scores. His parents are Daniel and Susan Van Doren.
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