Kennedy seniors earn Intel honors

One Kennedy High School senior studied whether endophytic bacteria injected into poplars would allow the trees to grow in inhospitable rocky and sandy soil. The research, conducted at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Suffolk County, could one day help solve both the world fuel and hunger crises.

Another Kennedy senior studied whether adding a distinctive musical beat to language lessons could help children with autism who are unable to communicate learn basic words and sentences.

And a third senior analyzed the brand preferences of socially connected students at Kennedy, determining that the wider a student's social network, the more mainstream his or her brand preferences are. The research could have profound implications for the marketing industry.

Last Wednesday, all three students –– Daniel Bornstein, Barri Bruno and Stephanie Weiner –– were awarded semifinalist accolades in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search, which is sponsored annually by the Intel Corporation and the Society for Science and the Public. Each year, more than 1,600 of the nation's best young minds take part in the competition, with 300 of them earning semifinalist honors. Each semifinalist receives a $1,000 scholarship and the right to compete for finalist honors and $630,000 in prize money divided among 40 winners. Finalists will be announced Jan. 27.

In all, 10 Kennedy students enrolled in the school's Authentic Science Research Program entered their projects in the 2010 Intel contest, with each project taking up to three years to complete.

Barbi Frank, a science research mentor at Kennedy, said all 10 students' projects represented college-level research and will be published in any number of journals in the coming year. "I'm really impressed by all 10 seniors by their research," she said.

Robert Soel, Kennedy's Science Department chairman, said, "It's an outstanding year for research at Kennedy. All 10 students did incredible research. Being a school of multiple [Intel] winners is really something to be proud of."

Daniel Bornstein