Three Kennedy High School researchers advance in LISEF

When Superstorm Sandy rolled across the South Shore on Oct. 29, 2012, it drenched the south Merrick home of Beatrice Brown, now 16, in four and a half feet of saltwater. The storm destroyed her family’s ranch-style house. The Browns lost everything.
“My dad salvaged some photos. That was it,” Beatrice said.

The Browns lived for nearly a year with family while their home was rebuilt. Then they sold it last year and moved, again to south Merrick, but this time to a multi-story house.

When Sandy hit, Beatrice Brown had recently begun her sophomore year at Kennedy High School in south Bellmore, which was also devastated by Sandy, and she had recently entered Kennedy’s Authentic Science Research Program.

For the program, students must conduct a long-term research project, which leads to a thesis that is entered in any number of science research competitions, usually during senior year. At the time that Sandy inundated her home, Brown was still searching for a research topic, she said. After the storm, she had one.

Brown wanted to study what causes hurricanes, and she undertook a project that recently earned her first place in the Earth and Planetary Science division during round one of the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair, held at the Crest Hollow Country Club on Feb. 10. She will now move on to round two of LISEF.

Also winning at round one were Kennedy seniors Rebecca Jellinek, who competed in the Behavioral Science division, and Ben November, who entered the Environmental Sciences division. Both Jellinek and November were named Intel Science Talent Search semifinalists for their theses in January.

LISEF round two winners will head to the International Science and Engineering Fair, sponsored by the Intel Corporation, at which participants compete for $4 million in scholarship prize money. Round two will be held at the Crest Hollow Country Club on March 13.