Five local students won awards at the recent 57th annual California State Science Fair.

The winners were:

•Samantha Guhan, an eighthgrader at Sycamore Canyon School in Newbury Park, won first place in the Junior Division's Biochemistry/Molecular Biology category for her project "A Behind the Scenes Look at the Idli Fermentation." Her adviser was Nicole Mitchell.

•Elly Shao, an eighth-grader at La Reina High School in Thousand Oaks, won second place in the Junior Product Science (Physical) category for her project "Fighting Hard Water Deposits." Her adviser was Marilyn Usher.

•Sean Callero, a seventhgrader at Los Cerritos Middle School in Thousand Oaks, won third place in the Junior Pharmacology/Toxicology category for his project "Glassy Winged Sharpshooter: Wrath of Grapes." His adviser was Diane Maiora.

•Jodi Loo, a sophomore at La Reina High School in Thousand Oaks, won third place in the Senior Electronics and Electromagnetics category for her project "Reducing the Photovoltaic Cost by Using Multifunction Concentrator Solar Cells." Her adviser was Marilyn Usher.

•Emily Zolfaghari, a sophomore at La Reina High School in Thousand Oaks, won third place in the Senior Biochemistry/Molecular Biology category for her project "The Correlation Between the Glycemic Index and the Development of Ovarian Serous Tumors of Low Malignant Potential." Her adviser was Marilyn Usher.

The winners were among 52 Ventura County middle and high school students who entered the competition that drew 953 participants from 359 schools statewide.

The local students qualified for the state science fair by placing first or second in their division's category at April's Ventura County Science Fair, held at Seaside Park in Ventura.