OES Spotlight

If you want to feel hopeful about the future of climate change, talk to Ishaan B. ’26.

This upper school senior is passionate about science and has already applied his growing knowledge to several research projects examining the effects of climate change. Additionally, his interest in policy is leading him towards a career where he can make a positive influence on laws that help protect the environment.

This past summer, Ishaan was selected to participate in the Summer Science Program (SSP) at Indiana University. He spent five weeks working with other high school students from around the world on a research project on fungi. Crop loss due to fungus is a big issue in the United States. This project focused on creating a fungicide that does not harm plants. His team worked on isolating the protein that allows the fungus to attach itself to the host (which, in their case, was sunflowers). His team eventually was able to isolate and characterize the protein, which allowed them to figure out the inhibitor that would keep the fungus from attaching to the host. Ishaan  shared, “OES prepared me well for my SSP research experience, with access to incredible mentors and state-of-the-art facilities.” 

Ishaan has attended OES since Pre-K and has been interested in science throughout his academic career. “In middle school, I got introduced to science inquiry projects, and I kind of fell in love with that process. I’m really driven by real-world impact and the things I see around me. Some of the problems I run into with my science inquiry projects are the result of my looking for novel solutions that answer real-world problems. This often places me very far outside of my comfort zone, working with a lot of materials that I’m not familiar with. But doing work that’s translational and using the amazing facilities that OES has is super important to me, and it’s really kind of guided my journey scientifically,” he said.

Currently, Ishaan is working on a science research project that he will submit to the OES Aardvark Science Expo in February. It involves an enzyme called tyrosinase, which drives a chemical reaction that generates a brown-forming pigment. Some toxic substances, including components found in plastics, can interfere with this reaction, changing how dark the brown color becomes. Those shifts in color make it possible to gauge how potent or toxic a substance is just by looking at the final shade. “We’re taking that scientific concept and trying to put it into a paper-based biosensor—a simple test strip,” explained Ishaan. “You mix our enzyme solution with whatever you want  to test, and the depth of the brown color shows how toxic the sample is.”

He’s excited about this project because it has the potential to be a big cost saver in analyzing toxins. “You usually have to do it in a microplate reader, and it’s very expensive. This enzyme, tyrosinase, is actually synthesized from mushrooms, so it’s very cheap. We’re trying to make this a test that is inexpensive and easy to use, and gives an empirical result.”

The other interest that Ishaan has focused on is policy. He’s been a part of the OES student policy board since his sophomore year, and that led him to participate in some activities with local government in Portland. “I’m really interested in the intersection between science and policy, through an environmental lens. My science research projects have all addressed an environmental issue, whether it’s excess nitrates in water or synergistic effects of different toxins. I want to find some way in the future that I can translate these scientific findings into some sort of policy or legislation, because I think that’s a link that's missing right now in our world.”

Ishaan is grateful for the support of the science faculty at OES in pursuing his interests. “Every single person in the science department has been such a mentor to me. I think it’s unique that I can just pop into the science office if I have a question about something. They also really promote independent thinking and help you get to that point where you’re making the materials yourself and you can feel like an independent scientist.”

When not in the science lab, Ishaan can be found on the tennis court. “I’ve been on the team the last four years, and this year I have the opportunity to be captain, which is really exciting,” he said. “It’s such an amazing community, and I’ve met so many of my mentors and people I look up to through tennis. I think when you’re a freshman, sports are the biggest way that you connect with upperclassmen and learn from them in a lot of ways. I’ve had mentors like Richard Li ’24, Ethan Tieu ’23, and Maxwell Tsai ’23, who have really guided my journey both as a tennis player and a person.” Ishaan is hoping to lead the tennis team to the state title this year.  

To relax, Ishaan enjoys playing the cello or rereading one of his favorite books. A couple of those favorites are A Winter's Promise by Christelle Davos and The Secret History by Donna Tartt. “The Secret History is about a murder, but it’s not a mystery,” said Ishaan. “It’s more of a thriller about this group of people and how they deal with the aftermath of the murder.”

When asked what he would say to a student who is thinking about OES, Ishaan answered, “First of all, they should choose our school because of the teachers and the kind of support you get here. I feel like at OES you really have a special relationship with your teachers. We call our teachers by their first names here, which is something that's very foreign for a lot of students. But I think it really makes you a lot more willing to ask questions and have actual, deep conversations with teachers, which I think is really important. As I said with my experience with the science department, if you have a question, you can just drop by and ask.”

“The other thing that differentiates OES for me in a lot of ways is that we have such strong science facilities that no other school in the region has,” he continued. “I feel super fortunate to go to a school that has these resources. I can do a project with resources from the science department and mentors who care about how you succeed. In general, at OES, there is so much support for whatever you want to do, whether it’s in the humanities and the arts or sciences.”

In considering where to go to college, Ishaan shared, “I’m looking for the kind of community that OES has, with a real collaborative spirit where you’re not competing against your peers for spots in sports or for classes. It’s really academically rigorous, but people still kind of uplift each other. I think that’s really important.”