Shannon Babb of Utah Named Top High School Scientist

Shannon Babb of Utah Named Top High School Scientist

Intel Corporation today awarded Shannon Babb of Highland, Utah top honors and a $100,000 scholarship in the Intel Science Talent Search. Babb, the competition’s first Utah winner, will take her place among esteemed alumni that include six Nobel Laureates, three National Medal of Science winners, 10 MacArthur Foundation Fellows and two Fields Medalists.

With a rare ability to combine research and remediation in environmental science, Babb, 18, of American Fork High School, conducted a six–month study to identify water quality problems in the Spanish Fork River. Babb, who started researching water quality at age 13, analyzed the chemical and physical properties along the river drainage system. She concluded that humans, through urban and agricultural factors, have a negative effect on the water quality of the river. She contends that the water quality problem can be resolved with a combination of restructuring and educating the public that household chemicals should not be poured down storm drains.

Yi Sun, 17, of The Harker School in San Jose, Calif., received second–place honors and a $75,000 scholarship. Sun discovered new geometric properties of random walks, a mathematical theory with applications to computer algorithms and polymers.

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