The seniors, about to graduate, had all been working toward this moment for most of their high school careers, having decided as rising sophomores to participate in the elective program and then been identified by the program’s leaders (Dr. Stephanie Forsberg, Dr. Paul Rabito, and Renee McGuire) as having the diligence and seriousness to join the science research cohort. The seniors’ research posters — a formal, visual representation of their theses, methods, and data — were the result of three academic years and summers of effort, often under the mentorship of illustrious professors at universities around the country.
The students’ personalities and passions shone through in many of the topics they had devoted themselves to. Varsity football players worked on the impact of concussions and how to mitigate them. Stella Brecker presented on how a “biomaterial,” the byproduct of kombucha fermentation, could help make the fashion industry more sustainable. Finn O’Rourke studied the movements of tiger sharks. Kimberly Cabrera presented on risk factors and treatment regimens for leukemia, which took the life of her mother when she was just a little girl.
Many more of the seniors had homed in on urgent issues that are impacting the South Fork environment and our community’s well-being. Griffin Beckmann worked on beech-leaf disease. James Corwin delved into microplastics in local waters and Katherine Corwin focused on the biodegradation of polyurethane. Lydia Rowan, inspired by the Flint water crisis, took on per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemical contamination in drinking water. Shirley Jiang researched a type of transparent wood that might make a promising alternative to glass. Hope Masi and Melanie Vizcaino addressed the spotted lanternfly, the former working to trace tourism rates and the pest’s prevalence and the latter working on a sonic method to chase the pest away.
Other research students looked at coastal erosion, beach nourishment, coastal armoring, desalinization, harmful algal blooms, hurricane wave-growth prediction, ocean acidification and rising ocean temperatures, the impact of water temperature on bacteria levels in Accabonac Harbor, horseshoe crab and shark populations, declining bay scallop populations, and threats to local wetlands — all topics of the utmost importance to the South Fork. The list of topics also includes explorations of A.I., public transit, e-waste recycling, quantum computing, and gene editing.
This is the best of what East Hampton High School can do and these kids give us hope. Leafing through last Thursday’s symposium program, we are eager to follow the progress of the next crop of rising young scientists.