The students invited were 12th graders Harold Colon
and Michaelle Exhume, and 11th grader Charles Lamar. Michaelle and Charles
traveled to the conference in early November to present their work on
posters and orally for the society’s scientist-judges. The three
were among only a few high school students invited to present their work;
most of the 50 student participants are college and university students.
Harold, Michaelle and Charles studied during
the summer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and presented
their work there as well.
Harold’s research, “Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption in Determining
Seafood Safety,” was initiated to ascertain whether the Cold
Vapor Atomic Absorption method could be used to measure mercury levels
in seafood. He used canned tuna, shrimp and crab to test which retained
the most mercury, and also studied the accumulation of mercury in different
parts of the animals. The data collected by Harold, who hopes to become
a surgeon, will help determine the amount of mercury ingested by humans
who eat seafood regularly. His study is ongoing.
Michaelle’s study
of “Marine Sponges as a Model for Tissue Recognition” can
ultimately help scientists understand the immune system and why the
body rejects certain tissues during organ transplants. Her project
has shown that when specific species of sponges are dissociated in
a seawater solution, they soon clump together in an attempt to reform
the original sponge structure, while mixing cells of different species
produces a different result. Sponges, like humans, she found, are able
to distinguish between “self” and “non-self.” Michaelle
looks forward to a career as a neurologist.
