IMSA students present high-level research studies

Area lecture halls were filled recently with discussions of "Radium Contamination in Drinking Water and the Growing Demand for Lake Michigan," "Molecular Mechanisms of Bone Marrow Stem Cell Maintenance" and "Development of a Method of Early Diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease."

Those conversations, though, weren't being conducted by doctors and scientists. At least not yet.

The IMSAloquium 2010 featured the research findings of more than 270 high school students involved in the Illinois Math and Science Academy's Student Inquiry and Research program, which pushes students to conduct and present findings of original research, engage in entrepreneurial applied science and technology activities, and collaborate with other students, mentors, scholars, researchers and inventors throughout the world.

The 15-minute presentations are meant to help them get comfortable defending their findings in a public setting, something many of them are sure to encounter one day.

South Barrington native Matthew Kleinjan, 17, worked with University of Chicago researchers for nearly nine months conducting interviews and tests on volunteer subjects before presenting his findings that individuals under stress are less likely to consume alcohol than rats are under similar levels of stress.

He decided on the project after watching other researchers at the university conduct a similar project involving nicotine.

"I think people assume a bad day at work is best solved with a stiff drink, so I wanted to take a look at that," Kleinjan said. "And, according to my subjects, at least, I found that to not always be the case. Continuing with my research, I'll see what they're doing instead and see if it's something more healthy."

On the other side of the building, 17-year-old Lisa Wendell of Bishop Hill presented evidence that the U.S. military should scale back bombing runs by its fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles until civilian casualties can be eliminated.

"As a member of the Air Force Auxiliary, I know I could be calling in an air raid by one of these machines in just a few years," she said. "If I do, I want to know they are accurate and working properly."

IMSA President Max McGee sat in on several presentations as a guest evaluator and said he is never shocked by the points he learns from students during their presentations.

"Folks talk about lifelong learning, but I'll tell you I'm living lifelong learning today," he said. "It really is neat to watch these kids grow every day, but to watch them put their heart and soul into their research for this project every year gives us all a real sense of pride in what we're accomplishing here."