Receptors and osmotics and quarks, oh my

For Hewlett High School seniors Patricia Donskoy, Perry Goffner, Jesse Korman, Adam Marc, Chelsea Sidrane and Helaina Regen-Tuero, being named semifinalists in the 2011 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology is worth the past three years they have spent conducting plant biology research.

The students began their projects in 10th grade and worked on them every school day of their junior year. Their mentor, Dr. Terrence Bissoondial, a science teacher at Hewlett High, said that they had the advantage of working on their projects at the high school. “Most students do research at major universities,” he explained, “but these kids worked very hard right here in the high school, and that’s an amazing accomplishment.”

Goffner, Donskoy and Korman’s project, entitled, “Receptor for Activated C Kinase 1 (RACK1) Regulates Cell Division, Gametophyte Development and ABA Signaling in Ceratopteris richardii,” determined that the gene RACK1, found in humans and plants, could make plants grow bigger, better and faster while resisting microorganisms that cause disease. “I was fascinated to work with a gene with such vast implications in both the research we were doing and in real life,” Goffner said.

Donskoy, who plans to study premedicine in college, said that while doing the research, she discovered that the knowledge she gained is a foundation for more education. “I learned research skills that I’ll use again in a college setting,” she said. “Being named semifinalists is a validation of all our hard work.”

Korman said that while he is interested in science, he’s not planning a career in medicine. “[In college] I might continue in research and maybe go into a biological perspective, such as plant or animal biology,” he said.

Marc, Sidrane and Regen-Tuero, who worked on a project called “Identification and Characterization of Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) Proteins in Response to Abscisic Acid (ABA) and Osmotic Stress in Ceratopteris richardii,” said their findings can be applied to real life. “We could use this to increase crop yields in countries that are low on food supply,” Regen-Tuero said. “So this project has a greater purpose.” It focused on making plants more resistant to drought and salt content in soil.

Sidrane, a potential mechanical engineering major in college, said that most high schools across the country don’t have research classes like Hewlett High’s. “This project taught me perseverance,” she said.

While the project was intended for the Siemens competition, Marc said his interest extended well beyond the contest. “It applies to a global problem and might help come up with a larger scale solution [for hunger],” he said.

At the North Shore Hebrew Academy High School in Great Neck, senior Daniel Goldsmith, a North Woodmere resident, was also named a Siemens semifinalist for his project, which focuses on a new state of matter, quark-gluon plasma. This quark “soup” exists at extremely high temperatures and/or density, and the quarks and gluons are part of the basic building blocks of matter.

“I’ve been doing research in different science areas for the past four years,” Goldsmith said. “After taking physics, I knew I was interested in it.”

The future physics major said that being a Siemens semifinalist is really exciting, especially after he conducted research every day for nine hours last summer at Stony Brook University. “I learned how to overcome difficulties in research and was able to get familiar with the terminology so I could do the work on my own,” Goldsmith said. “I also learned how to [tell] others my ideas in a way so they can understand.”