By NANCY HILER
"The Davidson fellows are success stories because they've nurtured their genius by seeking out mentors, relying on strong family support and working diligently to achieve their goals," said Bob Davidson, the institute's co-founder.
As many community members will recall, the award comes on the heels of Solomon's earning many others. He is a 2005-06 Siemens Competition national finalist, for which he received $40,000. In March he was awarded a $20,000 Intel Science Talent Search scholarship.
A veteran of science competitions, he has earned honors at the Long Island Science Congress, the New York State Science Congress, the Western Long Island Regional Science Olympiad and the New York State Science Olympiad. Before the Davidson scholarship, Solomon had already reportedly earned $63,000 through science contests.
He intends to put his award funds toward his undergraduate tuition at Yale, which costs upward of $31,000 a year, plus room and board. He plans to start at the New Haven, Conn., campus next month.
Solomon received the award for his work, "The Effects of Age on Brown Dwarf Spectral Features in the Near-Infrared." He studied the optical and near-infrared spectra of brown dwarfs, small celestial bodies resembling stars, for which he created an analytical tool for estimating their age and mass. His research can help unlock clues about stellar evolution and formation, the history of the Milky Way galaxy, and the formation of planetary systems, according to Siemens Foundation reports.
Solomon worked on his research at the American Museum of Natural History. His mentor was Dr. Kelle Cruz, National Science Foundation post-doctoral research fellow in the museum's astrophysics department. His paper will be published in an astrophysics journal this fall.
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