Cherokee Student Wins Top Award at Intel Science Fair

While most high school students (and adults) have no idea how algae can be turned into bio-fuel, Charlotte Kirk, an 18-year-old member of the Cherokee Nation, does. She apparently knows quite a bit about it as it was the subject of her project that placed third in the category of engineering at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair 2010, held last month in San Jose, Calif.

For her project, more specifically, she designed a method to differentiate among the various algae species using genetic sequencing. The method expedites the process of converting algae into bio-fuel by allowing scientists to predict fuel yield and detect those algae that are toxic to microorganisms used in the fermentation process.

Winning an award at Intel ISEF is a huge deal. It is the largest science, engineering and technology competition in the world, with 1,300 to 1,500 contestants from around 50 countries. Several million others strive to be finalists every year but never make it that far. The top awards not only come with exposure and prestige, but there is college money as well. Kirk’s award came with a $1,000 scholarship.

The award at Intel ISEF was not Kirk’s first for this project. It won her first-place at the 2010 Cherokee Nation Science and Engineering Fair and a Grand Award at the 2010 National American Indian Science and Engineering Fair in Albuquerque. She also won the Muskogee Regional Science Fair and placed second in the Regional Junior Science and Humanities Symposium.

Kirk, who graduated from Westville High School this spring, could not be reached for an interview, but Sammye Rusco, a spokesperson for the Cherokee Nation, told AIR that the young scientist will be going to college at MIT. In addition to her Intel ISEF scholarship, she has received a $38,000 scholarship from MIT and $1,500 from the Regional Junior Science and Humanities Symposium. Kirk plans to pursue an education in biochemical engineering with an emphasis on alternative energy.