Dr. Cesar Morales, Ventura County Superintendent of Schools, is pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 Ventura County Science Fair awards, which were presented at a ceremony this evening at the Ventura County Office of Education (VCOE) in Camarillo. Awards were given in a variety of scientific categories, including microbiology, engineering and chemistry. The winning entries were selected by about 80 local science, engineering, and education professionals who volunteered their time as judges.
The Science Fair was held on March 20 at the VCOE conference center in Camarillo. Nearly 500 students from middle and high schools throughout Ventura County submitted more than 300 projects for this year’s Science Fair. Students prepared displays explaining their experiments and then gave oral presentations to the judges who evaluated their work.
Highest Scorers are Headed to the State Science Fair
Students with the 35 highest-scoring projects in the Ventura County Science Fair will advance to the California Science & Engineering Fair, which will be held at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks on April 11 and 12. This is the second year in a row that the California Science & Engineering Fair will be held in Ventura County.
International Science and Engineering Fair
For the fourth consecutive year, one Ventura County Science Fair participant has earned the honor of competing in the prestigious International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), which will take place in Phoenix, Arizona, from May 9 to 15. This year’s ISEF participant from Ventura County will be Olivia Johnson from Thousand Oaks High School in the Conejo Valley Unified School District. The title of her project is Investigating the Synergistic Effect of Ivermectin and C-Phycocyanin on Cell Viability and Clonogenic Capacity in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.
More about the Ventura County Science Fair
Presented annually by the Ventura County Office of Education (VCOE), the Ventura County Science Fair is designed to promote and reward the achievements of our students in various scientific fields. With categories from animal sciences to physics, the event develops skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to help students lay the groundwork for future success.
The Science Fair brings together students, teachers, and scientists from around Ventura County to give students an awareness of the importance of science in their lives and to cultivate their interest in science careers. The Science Fair enhances students’ scientific knowledge and research skills, reinforces science content standards for California public schools, and recognizes outstanding student achievement. It also motivates students to undertake and complete scientific inquiries in their unique areas of interest.
VCOE would like to thank the following sponsors for their support of the 2026 Ventura County Science Fair:
- CalNRG
- Channel Islands Chapter of the Air & Waste Management Association
- The Ventura County Psychological Association
This year’s Ventura County Science Fair logo was created by Karime Lopez, an 8th grader at Ocean View Junior High School. More information about the Ventura County Science Fair is available on the VCOE website at www.vcoe.org/ScienceFair.