Seven rising seniors at Westhampton Beach High School are spending their summer immersed in science through Brookhaven National Laboratory’s SPARK program.

Two of the students participating this year returned to the program to continue work on their AP Research projects. Abigail Curran is studying microplastic association with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and Graelyn LoRusso is exploring sunscreen accumulation in larval clams. Both are using the lab’s infrared beamline (FIS) technology for their research.

So far, new SPARK participants Halle Gellerew, Fahtima Iqbal, James Monseratte, Jordan Razzano and Zoey Rudolph learned about infrared spectroscopy, designed and conducted a microplastic analysis experiment, and determined the chemical composition of the plastic using infrared microscopy.

Date Added: 7/25/2024