Shannon Babb, 18, Utah
Shannon took first place in this year’s STS. The honor comes with a $100,000 scholarship.
Now she’s famous!
She spent five years studying water quality levels near her hometown. “I live in the second driest state in the nation,” she says. “When I started my water quality studies we were in the middle of a seven year drought so water issues were in the media a lot. I wanted to find out why they kept saying local rivers were polluted.”
While most 13-year-olds were enjoying getting out of watering the lawn because of the shortages, Shannon rolled up her sleeves and went over Utah’s water supply with a fine tooth comb. What did she find? She uncovered convincing evidence that dumping chemicals were causing more damage to the rivers than anyone had thought. Sure, it’s easy to say that, but sometimes people need proof before they’ll inconvenience themselves by getting rid of their waste responsibly. That’s what Shannon’s project provided, and that’s why she took first at the STS.
Shannon plans on continuing her water studies at Utah State University. “I have wanted to go there since I was ten years old,” Shannon is also sure to give credit to her father for helping her with her research: “It takes a special person to wake up at 4:00 a.m. to drive their kid to some random river so she can test water quality.”
Yi Sun, 17, California
Ever feel like you’re just walking in circles? Yi Sun found out that you probably are. This 17-year-old mathematics researcher discovered a formula to predict how many times a person will walk in circles if they take random turns on a grid (like city blocks.) “I was looking to attain a better understanding of rotational behavior of random walks,” says Yi.
To see some cool pictures relating to this formula click here.
His research earned him second place and a $75,000 scholarship. Yi plans to continue studying mathematics, but he hasn’t chosen which school to attend yet. His advice to other young scientists is to look at the big picture: “study a wide variety of scientific fields; this really allowed me to see connections between different areas.” And next time you get lost downtown, remember Yi’s formula and don’t freak out when you pass the same McDonald’s seven times.
Chelsea Zhang, 17, Maryland
Chelsea’s project is amazing. She worked with researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to find out why plaque builds up in arteries and causes heart attacks. She isolated a sticky molecule in plaque and concluded that if a chemical could target that molecule, it would help cure heart attacks.
That’s right: cure heart attacks. Heart disease consistently ranks as America’s top three killers, and Chelsea took a step toward treating it.
Her project took third place at STS and earned her a $50,000 scholarship. She encourages other young scientists to look into important questions: “Don’t let the perception that science is 'uncool' stop you from developing your interest. America needs scientists to stay competitive in the coming years.”
Nick Wage, 17, Wisconsin
Nick studied the mathematics of networks. We’re surrounded by networks in the modern world. “Networks are found in all sorts of places,” he says, “like airline flight routes, the connection of cells in the brain, and, of course, computer networks. The internet has more than three billion computers and 20 billion connections.”
Nick tried to find out how efficient those networks were. Who knows how many chaotic twists this blog takes around cyberspace before it hits your screen? Nick knows: a lot. His research took fourth place and won him a $25,000 scholarship.
Nick’s experience has given him some words of wisdom to pass along: “If you love science (or any other field), then set high goals and pursue them with hard work and passion. You’ll not only succeed, you’ll have a blast along the way.”
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I congratulate the winners, and thank them for being what science has always been to literature: an inspiration.
To read more about the Intel Science Talent Search competition, click here.
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