Research Projects Earn Port Jeff Students Distinction

Ten Earl L. Vandermeulen High School students were recognized by the Board of Education for research projects they completed during the summer.

Those honored were Caroline Biondo, Ryan Burke, Carly Cherches, Noah Davis, Aliza Doyle, Ju Mi Ha, Dunia Karzai, Julia Kharzeev, Donal McSweeney and Natalia Zaliznyak.

The Port Jefferson students’ projects spanned a variety of scientific studies. Biondo, for example, worked with Dr. Heather Lynch in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University to collect data on stone stealing in penguin colonies.

Cherches worked with Aleksev Bolotnikov at Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Department of Nonproliferation and National Security to test and fabricate CZT crystals to build detectors that are being used to pick up gamma radiation sources. Doyle worked at the University of Pennsylvania under the supervision of Dr. Sigrid Veasey on the behavior of mice with certain sleep disorders.

Other research projects included DNA extraction, incremental particle tracking, evaporation of protein drops, mutations contributing to neuropsychiatric disorders and protein crystallography nucleation.

Photo courtesy of the Port Jefferson School District

Have a news tip? Email ryan@patch.com. You can also post your own news, events and announcements on Patch by following these directions. Curious about how our new commenting platform, Disqus, works? Learn more about it here and start interacting with your neighbors on Patch.