Teenager Wins Science Talent Search for Algae Biofuel

(Algae Industry Magazine) Sara Volz, a 17-year old high school senior from Colorado Springs, CO, won the top award of $100,000 from the Intel Foundation for her research of algae biofuels. Honoring high school seniors with exceptional promise in math and science, Intel Corporation and Society for Science & the Public (SSP) recognized Sara in what is considered the nation’s most elite and demanding high school research competition, the Intel Science Talent Search.

Sara’s science research employed artificial selection to establish populations of algae cells with high oil content, essential for an economically feasible biofuel.

...Sara, who built a home lab under her loft bed, sleeps on the same light cycle as her algae.

...Of the 1,712 high school seniors who entered the Intel Science Talent Search 2013, 300 were announced as semifinalists in January. Of those, 40 were chosen as finalists and invited to Washington, D.C. to compete for the top 10 awards. These finalists join the ranks of other notable Science Talent Search alumni who, over the past 72 years, have gone on to win seven Nobel Prizes, two Fields Medals, five National Medals of Science, 11 MacArthur Foundation Fellowships and even an Academy Award for Best Actress. READ MORE and MORE (NBC News) and MORE (Denver Post) and MORE (The Wall Street Journal) and MORE (The Washington Post) and MORE (Associated Press) WATCH VIDEO (Algae Industry Magazine)

Volz constructed her home lab beneath the slats of her bunk-style bed, begged and borrowed flasks to hold the algae specimens and asked for a microscope for Christmas one year.

Although she did some of her work with the help of supporters at Colorado State University and the Air Force Academy, she found it wasn't practical to try to do all her work at multiple sites. So most of the experimentation happened in the same room where she slept.

Volz said she still has work to do to confirm her analyses and determine if the process can work on a larger scale, but she added that her work shows a lot of potential for the artificial selection process in general.

The daughter of a veterinarian and a journalist, Volz always has been guided by a "need to understand something to make it a part of my world."

"I've been interested in alternative energy for so long," Volz said. "My real scientific passion is biochemistry because of the incredible complexity of all the mechanisms involved. The algae biofuels was a perfect marriage of those two passions."

Along the way, Volz sought advice from several Colorado-based experts willing to help a high school kid with big aspirations.

"Some of it was begging and e-mailing lots of people, saying that I'm doing a research project and I'd love you to give me some advice,or let me use some of your neat equipment," Volz said. "You get some closed doors and some wonderful people willing to help."

Stephen Chisholm, an assistant professor of Weed Science at CSU, was given Volz's name in 2010 and agreed to call her as a courtesy — but he admits he was already plotting an exit strategy.

... Her independence made Volz unique among competitors, many of whom worked in sophisticated labs to achieve their results, said Wendy Hawkins, executive director of the Intel Foundation. Judges also cited the breadth of her scientific understanding

"This competition doesn't look only at specific research — that's just the ticket into the game," Hawkins said. "We're looking for future scientific leaders, those who can connect the dots across multiple fields." READ MORE