Ryka Chopra, 17,used AI and game theory to find how countries could work together to save Arctic ice; now she is a US Regeneron STS finalist

Ryka Chopra, a 17-year-old student at Mission San Jose High School in Fremont, California, is among the 40 finalists of the 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search. Her project combines graph theory, game theory and reinforcement learning to model how nations’ conservation decisions could affect Arctic ice loss. Simulating interactions among 25 Arctic-related nations and regions, her model found that appropriate incentives could encourage countries to cooperate on conservation while considering their economic interests.