Charles Lamar
Class of 2005 - Present
Freeport High School
Topic: 2006 Mercury as an Indicator of Autistic Spectrum Disorder
Presentation (ppt)
Research paper (pdf)
Topic: Mercury & Autisim
About:
In the spring of 2005, I received word of a program in which students were to engage in laboratory activity. I quickly applied and luckily was one of only six students from my school that were selected by Dr. Sat Bhattacharya to participate in the program.
Over the summer of 2005 I was placed at Environmental Testing Laboratories (ETL) in Farmingdale New York. There, I performed general extractions on various environmental samples under the supervision of Patricia Els.
Every Monday and Friday I attended lectures at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The lectures, which were lead by Dr. Bhattacharya, featured students who would tell of their experience up to that point in the program. They would explain in detail what they had worked on thus far. I also had the pleasure of being in the presence of several guest speakers.
On October 1 st 2005, I attended the Second Annual Harlem Children’s Society Street Fair. Students were asked to present their findings and/or reports on a poster board and to prepare a five-minute oral presentation. Students were judged upon certain criteria involving their respective posters and presentations. But this fair was not all about science. Delicious vegetarian organic meals were served and exotic live music blared. At times, it was more like social affair than a science fair.
Currently, I am a sophomore at Freeport High School in Freeport, New York. I have chosen to continue the program under the supervision of Edward Irwin at Freeport High School. In closing, I must say it has been a fun and highly insightful and educational experience. I am sure the things that I have learned will help through many of my future endeavors, from secondary education to long-term employment.