Lakes High School senior Tony Propp didn't have to think very hard about what experiment he wanted to choose for his science project.

All he had to do was look up in the sky.

Propp, whose father, Bob, is a Navy corpsman stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, channeled his love of tracking severe weather into a science project that earned him an honorable mention award in the Earth and Planetary Science category at the South Sound Regional Science Fair March 27 at Pacific Lutheran University.

Chanel Washington, a junior at Lakes, took first place in the Biochemistry category for her project detailing the effects of different temperatures on DNA extracted from a pea.

Washington's father, Ron, is an Army veteran who now works as a civilian in emergency operations at the joint base.

The pair both channeled a passion for their subject into projects that were well received by judges. Each had to create a presentation board as well as a journal detailing the process and result of their experiment. After performing well at the class and district level, the pair was invited to participate at the regional fair, which featured K-12 students from both public and private schools in Pierce, Thurston, Lewis and Mason counties.

"I want to be a meteorologist, and I wanted to include pictures from storm chasing," said Propp, who also generates a weather forecast that he broadcasts on the school's morning announcements. "I really enjoyed doing it. I would do another project on it just for the heck of it."

Propp chased four storms - two east of the Cascades and two in western Washington - and calculated how many lightening strikes (1,080, for the record) actually touched the ground during an hour of observation throughout each of the storms.

"I chase (storms) every chance I get," said Propp, who plans on attending the University of Oklahoma after finishing his prerequisites at Pierce College. "I love how it shows the power of nature."

Washington, on the other hand, has aspirations of a career in corporate law. Although she acknowledged science isn't her favorite subject, she wanted her project to focus on something interesting.

"I wanted to do something that challenged me, but that was interesting at the same time," said Washington, who found the idea while browsing the Web.

Initially, Washington was unsure about competing at the regional fair, but eventually she decided to participate. In hindsight, it was a great decision.

One of the judges at the fair referred her to a biochemistry program at the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, which she plans on applying for this summer. The program gives students from all over the Northwest an opportunity to enjoy hands-on science, peering over the shoulders of infectious disease researchers.

"I wanted to do a good project ... something that's not just for the grade," Washington said. "(The project) has taken me on a different path. It will be interesting to see where this biology thing takes me."

Sign up for our free newsletter.