Westhampton Beach Student To Attend Prestigious NYS Science Congress

WESTHAMPTON BEACH, NY — A Westhampton Beach High School senior has made his hometown proud: Advanced science research student Nicholas Borruso has been selected as one of the nominees from Long Island to attend the New York State Science Congress in Syracuse on June 8.

Borruso was chosen for his research project "Assessment of the Behavioral Impacts of Forever Chemicals on Danio rerio," which he conducted as part of the Simons Summer Research Program at Stony Brook University, the district said.

His project is one of 23 from Long Island and one of only three from Suffolk County to advance to this level.

"It's a great privilege to be selected by the LISC judges and committee to represent Long Island at the New York State Science Congress," said Borruso. "I am grateful to have the opportunity to connect with other New York State student researchers, and I look forward to presenting my research to the esteemed panel of judges that has been put together for the event in June."

Earlier this year, Borruso’s project placed first in the environmental category of the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium semifinals. He was one of only 16 high school researchers from Long Island to advance in that competition. To earn the spot, he competed against 320 of his peers.

Borruso said he selected the project, in which he studied the effects of "forever chemicals" on zebrafish, because he has always been interested in neuroscience and the impacts of pollution on environmental health. He conducted his research as part of the Simons Summer Research Program at Stony Brook University, where he served as a fellow in Dr. Howard Sirotkin’s lab in the department of neurobiology and behavior.

Aside from participating in his school’s science research program, Borruso, who was recently named valedictorian of the Class of 2025, volunteers at a local emergency department and is vice president of his school’s robotics team, for which he inaugurated a mentorship program for robotics at the middle school. He is also co-editor of his school’s "Seascapes" publication, participates in Key Club, and is a member of his school’s National, Language, Math and Science honor societies.

He is an AP Scholar with Distinction and has earned an AP Capstone designation on his diploma. He plans to study neuroscience in college on a pre-med track.