Preserving tonewoods for string instruments

Did you know that the environment can affect the sound quality of wooden instruments?

Hello! My name is Alyna. I'm a high school senior with a love for botany-based research, STEM, and classical orchestral music!

Over the past years of being a STEM student, I've had the incredible opportunity to participate in my school STEM Academy's research project, Plant Mars, an international NASA-sponsored research competition, and study plant behavior alongside my STEM peers and NASA scientists.

As a senior in a college-level research course, I have transferred my experience and skills into my personal research project. My research focuses on the physical differences between sustainable and unsustainable musical wood materials and their implications on musical sound quality in the classical music industry.

My research project combines my love for orchestral instruments, botany research, and my devotion to promoting sustainable practices in my community through STEM.

I am thrilled to be able to transfer my skills to my passion research project that combines all of my core interests but, I require funding to conduct my research!

The woods I need require international shipping that extends out of my budget, which I was not anticipating at the time of my planning, with a total cost of materials ranging from $120 - 200.

In the music industry, many scientific studies are defining the relationship between the environmental effects of wood quality and how that shows up in wooden string instruments. As climate change, deforestation, and wood endangerment become more prevalent, the threat of wood endangerment and its long-lasting implications on musical sound quality in wooden string instruments do as well. Through conducted research, many musicians, luthiers, and students in my community can benefit from discovering confirmed tonal differences to promote use or improvement on sustainable woods for instrument crafting. I hope to advance sustainable wood research for the music industry and bring awareness to this growing issue.

I hope you will consider supporting my initiative! Thank you!