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THREE IRISH STUDENTS have been undertaking experiments on speeding up cereal growth – and their efforts will see them competing for a global science award.
Ciara Judge, Emer Hickey and Sophie Healy-Thow from Kinsale Community School, Cork have been chosen as one of five global finalists for their age category in the Google Science Fair 2014.
As you can see from the video above, they showed huge dedication to their project, getting up at 6am to check on seeds, and building new equipment for their own lab.
“It’s really exciting,” Emer told TheJournal.ie. “When we started the project, we didn’t know if it would work or not.” They were shocked to win the BT Young Scientist Award, but delighted that their experiment was yielding results.
Finding that having a competition to take part in was good motivation, they entered the Google Science Fair.
As part of the fair, they’re looking for votes in the People’s Choice Award – you can vote for them via this link.
Google Science Fair
The Google Science Fair is an online competition which will see thousands of international competitors taking part in an event at Google’s San Francisco HQ on September 21.
Ciara, Emer and Sophie were chosen thanks to their project, which saw them investigate whether the use of natural bacteria could assist food production by increasing crop output.
They began their experiment in 2012 and are still working hard. They were able to show that natural bacteria in the roots of plants such as peas and clover could improve the growth of other valuable food crops such as wheat, oats and barley.
This innovation would produce substantially increased food yields and reduce fertiliser use, potentially making a significant difference to improving food security and reducing the impact of intensive agriculture across the globe.
The three students have previously competed in and won both the 2013 BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition and the EU Contest for Young Scientists.
Since the EU Contest, they have built a polytunnel and begun growing crops in a field trial. When they harvest them, they will get to compare the bacteria treated growth to the water treated growth.
Emer, who is studying all three sciences for her Leaving Certificate, said that the issue of food security is a big one for the students. “It is really our dream to actually see this being used, just because of the implications it has,” she said of the project.
But to make that happen on a large scale, they need the support of bigger universities and research centres. They hope that the Google Science Fair will help bring global attention to their work.
Clearly, the trio come from a school that’s going to spawn some science experts in the coming years – over 100 students in Kinsale Community School are currently working on projects for the 2015 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.
“A lot of people have said to us, ‘you’re an inspiration’,” said Emer, when asked about the issue of females studying STEM subjects. “But we wouldn’t see it that way. I’d like to show people could see how they can do it too.”
To promote the entries and to choose the project most likely to ‘change the world’, Google has opened an online global public vote which will be run from Sept 2 -14 on the Google Science Fair website.
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That’s some jolly up for the lads
They might learn what a real riot is
I thought Gardai were understaffed. But any opportunity to impress our EU masters and hey presto we find 56 that are not needed.
Jesus can we not comment on any article now……the CAMHS article below….Tipperary branch told my 16 year old unless your going to kill yourself, we can’t help you……I had to bring my daughter to G.P 8 times in a couple of months and paid for private counselling…but hey ho there’s an endless pit of money for anyone that’s not Irish…
@Clare Power: Just walk into the IPAS office, say you’re from Georgia and lost your passport. Tell them you’re being victimized because you’re gay. Hey presto, free medical card!
@YKwkSIqW: it would be funny if it wasn’t the truth
@Clare Power: It’s complete lunacy.
@Clare Power: Hope things work out fir you and your family and you get the support required
@F T: sorted now thank God
@Clare Power: piss poor this Journal
@Clare Power: my daughter went through the CHAMS system for a number of years. She got absolutely nothing from it. Constant waiting, then cancellations, sometimes within a half hour of her appointment. It’s a total train crash.
The French police will eat them alive. And they’ll show them how to be real police
I hope they’ll get a good orientation course. They’ll need to know where to get chips after hours and where they can scab freebies.
Could we get a dig out in Dublin from the gendarme
They don’t need them at the Portal now
Law & Order in complete tatters at home, yet the Garda Siochana are able to send 56 Gardai to France. I recall an incident last year where a young female student was being assaulted in broad daylight by a male & other students couldn’t get anyone to come out from the Divisional HQ 10 mins away. Sadly the Gardai Siochana has become politicized & these type of ventures along with incidents such as punishing a Garda for giving a bike to an elderly man or hitting innocent people with batons in Newtown only serve to alienate the public even further. All just, to look good in Europe.
This is great in theory but can’t imagine that the Irish Po Po have the competence to police an event of such magnitude. They go into hiding at the best times. Key stone cops. “Dig out”
It’s great to see EU countries helping each other in so many ways
Probably for the best as the Irish ferals are throwing a tantrum when the law gets applied to them.
Isn’t France the country who wants to send troops on the ground in Ukraine? But needs foreign nations to lend a hand to secure France during the Olympics? That country and its boytoy president are a joke.
@Ryan Hulin (ryansjourneys): drag us along with them headcase
What they going to do, hit people with a breakfast roll?
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