Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 7, 1995 TAG: 9506070031
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: |By JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Kristi Alger has won an international research award - and she hasn't even graduated from high school yet.
She used a broken-down microwave oven, motor oil from her dad's van and sand from the family's backyard sandbox to win an $8,000 college scholarship.
Alger beat students from more than 33 countries to win the outstanding award in environmental science at the recent International Science and Engineering Fair in Ontario, Canada.
The Patrick Henry High School senior, who has been interested in science since she was in elementary school, will use the scholarship to attend the College of William and Mary, where she will study geology.
Alger, 18, is the first student from Western Virginia to win a grand prize in the International Science and Engineering Fair. Her award was sponsored by the U.S. Office of Naval Research and the Marine Corps.
Meenoo Jain, a senior at Cave Spring High School, won a fourth-place award and a $100 cash prize in the medicine and health category.
Alger's project studied the use of microwave radiation to clean up oil spills. She has been studying the issue for three years, refining her project and doing more detailed analysis, which helped her win the international competition.
But it began with a simple idea and a homemade laboratory.
Alger, who also attends the Roanoke Valley Governor's School for Science and Technology and the CITY School, discovered that a professor in Louisiana was using microwave radiation to separate oil from water, sediment and other materials. She thought the same principle could be applied to oil spills on beaches, to raise the oil to the surface so it could be removed easily.
She created her own laboratory in the family's basement on Overland Road Southwest.
She created a beach with sand from her sandbox. The oil spill was used motor oil. And the old oven provided the microwave radiation.
"I've done most of my work in my basement. It smells bad," she said, adding that her mother probably would be upset if a photographer took a picture of it.
Alger put the oil-polluted sand in the microwave for varying periods. The experiment showed that the microwave energy raised the oil to the surface without breaking it down.
"If you use my method, you wouldn't have to dig up the beach," Alger said. "By bringing the oil to the surface, you maker it easier and faster to remove it."
The microwave heats the water, which heats the oil, she explained. The data showed that the amount of oil in the top layer of sand increased with the amount of time in the microwave.
Alger said she is not sure whether she will pursue the project and investigate the possibility of adapting it for commercial use.
When she was younger, Alger wanted to be an astronaut, then decided she would become an astronomer. Now, she likes geology.
"I've always liked the laboratory part of science," she said. "That's why I like geology. You can go outside and get your materials, and then bring them into the laboratory."
Alger has been a consistent winner at the Western Virginia Regional Science Fair. She has finished in the top four during three of her four years in high school, said David Partington, director of the fair and director of secondary education for Roanoke schools.
Partington said other students from Western Virginia have won smaller awards at the international science fair, but Alger is the first to win a grand prize. There were 103 contestants in the environmental science competition, including students from Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Norway and Puerto Rico.
"It's quite an honor for her," Partington said. "She is the biggest money winner by far ever from Western Virginia."
Alger ranks eighth in Patrick Henry's senior class of 283 students. Her grade-point average is 4.02. Her average is above 4.0 because she receives weighted credit for courses at the Governor's School, CITY School and Center for Advanced Studies at Patrick Henry.
Education has a high priority in her family. Her father, Larry, teaches computer systems at the College of Health Sciences, and her mother, Jane, is a guidance counselor at Salem High School.
Her brother, Eric, is a seventh-grader at James Madison Middle School.
She is not a bookworm, although she takes tough courses that require many hours of study.
"I've got a social life and like to do lots of other things," she said.
Alger was second-team All Roanoke Valley District in volleyball. She also plays on a club volleyball team. She likes music and has played the piano for years.
by CNB