School News

Central H.S. senior recognized by Intel

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Valley Stream Central High School senior Sylvette Diaz was awarded the 2016 Intel Science Talent Search Research Report Badge last week, an award presented to students who present an “exceptionally well-written college-level report covering their own research.”

Robert Hildebrand, Diaz’s science research teacher, said he has worked closely with her over the years and observed how passionate she is about the work.

“Sylvette is super quiet,” he said, but “has a big smile on her face when she talks about [her research].”

Hildebrand said that the program is made up of a small group of students and faculty. “We teach them basic research skills and see what they like to do,” he said. “It’s a very open subject.”

Thousands of students submit research to Intel, but only a few students receive the badge award. Intel implemented the badge awards system in 2012 to add additional categories of recognition to the competition beyond semifinalist and finalist. Diaz spent three years on her project, titled: “Size at first infection of native palaemonid shrimp (Palemon pugio, Palaemon vulgaris and Palaemon mondusnovus) of the Western Atlantic by trematode parasites.”

She compiled research on the native palaemonid shrimp of the Northwestern Atlantic and spent the past two summers collecting data, which she analyzed in the lab with her mentor from C.W. Post University. Hildebrand said he has noticed that she’s increasingly become a part of the research community at the university, as she often emails students and faculty there.

In addition to her science research involvement, Diaz is a member of the National Honor Society and subject honor society at the school. She plans to study biology and zoology in college.