WANTAGH, NY. — Wantagh High School juniors Lauren Furer and Charlotte Heron received some early-career accolades this month, as Furer was published in the Royal Society of Chemistry Journal and Heron received a $300 grant from the New York Institute of Technology.
Both Furer and Heron are in their third year of the science research program at Wantagh; Furer studying the way antibodies interact with radioactive metals with a view towards using them to diagnose and treat diseases, while Heron studied hydroponic systems that could allow for the growth of vegetables without soil.
For her part, Fruer spent last summer in Hunter College’s Zeigler Lab, on a team led by Ph.D. Candidate Zachary Samuels. Furer spent three days a week in the lab taking measurements and preparing samples, an effort for which she received an author credit on the study. She was the only high school student listed as a co-author in the published piece.
“It was really exciting and really cool to be exposed to a professional research
environment,” Furer said. “I’m really grateful I got the opportunity to do something like
that and I hope to go back this summer to work on another project.”
While she was published for her research on antibodies, that’s not even her main science research project. In class at Wantagh, she’s studying connections between depression, autism and the brain’s salience network, a study she plans to enter in the Regeneron Science Talent Search.
Meanwhile, Heron received a $300 grant from the New York Tech Mini-Research Grant Award Program, administered by the New York Institute of Technology. That grant will fund her research into hydroponic lettuce growing techniques, titled, “Lettuce Settle This Debate: A Comparative Study of DIY Hydroponic Systems.”
That research compares a pair of DIY hydroponic systems, a sustainable farming technique that involves suspending plants within pieces of foam and feeding them nutrient solutions. For this research, one of the hydroponic systems will use air stones in the water, and one won’t. Air stones, in this case, are stones placed at the bottom of a water tub that pump air into the plant feeding system. Charlotte’s goal, ultimately, is to find the most economic way to grow these plants.
“It’s nice to know that I can continue to carry out my research with this extra support,” Heron said.
Heron said she became interested in hydroponics in eighth grade, during a Sustainable Agriculture elective at Wantagh. As for the grant, she said she’ll be able to purchase materials to use in further study. Her ultimate goal is also to enter her research in the Regeneron talent search next year.
“It’s exciting, but it was really unexpected,” Heron said.
For science research instructor Wantagh officials, the accolades achieved by Furer and Heron are a source of pride for a science research program in only its third year of existence.
“We are incredibly proud as a district to see our Science Research students
recognized beyond the walls of our school for their efforts and intellect,” Grades 6-12 Director of STEM Christine Gill said. “They are innovative, intelligent and determined students who will
undoubtedly make a positive impact on the world. Congratulations to Charlotte on
receiving the NY Tech Mini-Research Grant to support her work in hydroponics, and to
Lauren for being a co-author on published research with the Royal Society of Chemistry.
We are extremely proud of their accomplishments.”