Though he just started his freshman year at the University of Southern California under a special program for gifted high school seniors, Christopher Lindsay of Honolulu has enough accomplishments to list in a resume that’s 15 pages long.

We’re talking essay contest winner, Hawaii State Geographic Bee finalist and a black belt in Shotokan karate. Now he can add Davidson Fellow laureate to the list.

Lindsay, 17, was one of 20 students selected nationally to receive college scholarships of $10,000 to $50,000 from the Davidson Institute for Talent Development in Reno, Nev., over the summer. He received $50,000 for his project, which used inexpensive, underwater, time-lapse camera arrays to capture photos of marine animals in the depths of the ocean.

The nonprofit, founded by educational software entrepreneur Bob Davidson, awards students who have a project with the potential to benefit society in fields ranging from science and technology to literature and music.

Lindsay’s project, “Kahakai to Hohonukai: Environmental Studies of Marine Biota Using Underwater Time-Lapse Photography and Multiple Camera Arrays at Various Depths,” captured images of sea creatures at a depth of about 500 meters.

“I was very surprised,” said Lindsay of receiving the scholarship. “I tried hard on the application and it worked out.”

The teen, who has had exhibits in 25 science fairs, says his research celebrates mankind’s curiosity, ingenuity, scientific achievements and determination to explore the unknown.

“I basically always wanted to do science fairs, ever since I could enter, before sixth grade,” he said. “Of course, my parents were very encouraging. At my first-year science fair, I made a bunch of friends, and am still friends with them today.”

His interest in studying the ocean came from growing up and playing at Cromwell’s beach in east Oahu.

“I really think the environment needs to be protected,” he said. “We can’t overfish or take too much and we can’t take more than we can give back. I think that scientific research is a good way to model how much we’re taking and how much we can take without being destructive.”

The idea for Lindsay’s project started with his participation in a science fair in Kyoto, Japan, in 2014, during his sophomore year at ‘Iolani.

He was part of a team of five at the Japan Super Science Fair that presented 10-month research on the behavior of sharks in an underwater cave at Kaneohe Bay using cameras that took photos every few seconds.

At ‘Iolani, Lindsay’s science fair mentor, Margo Edwards of the University of Hawaii-Manoa’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, helped him develop the camera system and encouraged him to continue research on sea anemones and sea stars living on top of disposed munitions in the ocean south of Pearl Harbor. For his latest award, Lindsay refined the technology, developing an underwater camera system with tiny computers, battery packs and LED lights held in place by aluminum pipes.

Music and science were part of Lindsay’s life growing up. His mother, Holly, is a professional cellist. His father, Mark, is a research physicist and former university professor who teaches at ‘Iolani. His older sister, Melody, is a microbiologist and harpist who received a Davidson Fellow scholarship in 2009.

Lindsay spent his childhood playing flute, drums and pipe organ. He said his favorite instrument is the drum set “because it’s the loudest and I can hit it hard.”

This year, Lindsay transferred to Kalani High School so he could participate in a resident honors program at USC. He will graduate from Kalani in 2017 and is taking college courses at USC, where he is majoring in astronomy and environmental sciences.

Learn more about the fellowship at davidsongifted.org.