Mineola High School seniors Monika Dharia and Charlotte Ring were among 43 Long Island students to rank as Intel Science Talent Search semifinalists on Wednesday.
The students, who were chosen among 1,800 entries from 41 states, will compete with 300 semifinalists nationwide for monetary prizes, including three first-place awards of $150,000 each.
“I was so excited and honored,” Ring said in an interview with the Williston Times.
“It feels really great,” Dharia added. “I’m really happy to be a semi-finalist.”
The students, who were each awarded $1,000, said they are expecting to hear if they rank as finalists on Jan. 21. Finalists will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. from March 5-11, where they will compete for more than $1 million in awards, according to the Intel Science Talent Search website.
Dharia’s project, titled “Evaluating the estrogenicity, androgenicity and toxicity of urban-use pesticides using saccharomyces cerevisiae bioluminescent reporter system,” deals with the effects of pesticides on the human body.
Dharia, who is valedictorian of her class, said through her research at Hofstra University she was able to determine the effects of pesticides on men specifically.
“If you take a man, for example, he may begin to develop female features,” she said.
Dharia, who plans to attend college for environmental engineering, said that while the effects of pesticides causing cancer has been studied its effects on the endocrine system, which controls the hormones of the body, have not been studied as deeply.
“I wanted to take a different approach,” she said.
Ring’s project, titled “Assessing soil erosion through run-off and water-drop tests under acid rain attack,” studied the acid levels in rain and its effect on soil.
Through her research, Ring was able to determine that Long Island’s water is high in acids which erode the grounds soil, something she said is unique to the area.
“Rain water on Long Island is quite acidic due to the industrial areas nearby,” she said.
Ring, who plans to study Geology or Geophysics in college, said she has always been interested in earth science and geology.
“I wanted to study a question I had never heard the answer to,” she said.
Her research was done from Mineola High School which, Ring said, is unusual as students in the competition will generally do their studies at specific areas outside the high school.
Being fifth in her class, Ring said she is looking to attend the University of Chicago but has not decided yet.
Edward Escobar, principal of Mineola High School said the Intel Science Talent Search, which was implemented into the schools curriculum five years ago, has been a success.
“The program has really taken off,” he said. “These students do very well academically and the credit goes to them.”
