Shannon Kehoe has been thriving in the Huntington High School’s science research program. The junior is in the midst of another great year. She’s teamed up with classmate and partner Jasjeet Kaur on a project that is keeping both of them busy.
“I have taken science research since freshman year,” Ms. Kehoe said. “I didn’t really know what to expect. Being the only freshman and knowing some upperclassmen from volleyball and clubs, I grew to like the class more than I ever thought.”
Huntington High School junior Shannon Kehoe
Ms. Kehoe is a top student and a great athlete, too. She is one of the key players on the Blue Devil varsity volleyball team.
“My first year in this class I had Mrs. [Deborah] Beck as one of my teachers and she really helped me with the biology aspect if my project,” Ms. Kehoe said. “I also had Mr. [Matthew] Liguori the past two years and he has help me create the set-ups for my experiments as well as the biology aspect. For the past three years I have had Mrs. [Dame] Forbes and her expertise in research has truly guided me through each research experiment I have performed. To any freshman or anyone thinking about taking science research, I definitely recommend it.”
Ms. Kehoe’s freshman project was titled “The Effects of Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation on Radish Seeds on the Rate of Germination in Days, Number of Leaves and Mass of the Radishes Produced by the Radish Plants.”
The teenager’s sophomore year project studied “The effect of Indole-3-butyric acid, 1-Naphthaleneacetic acid and Indole-3-acetic on Pisum Sativum during a Drought.” I wasn’t able to finish the experiment due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Ms. Kehoe said. I was interested in working on a similar topic this year.”
Ms. Kehoe and Ms. Kaur are teaming up as research partners for the first time. Their project is titled “The effect of natural carbon material and malic acid on Pisum Sativum plants.”
“I am super excited to work with Jasjeet,” Ms. Kehoe said. “I have known her since the sixth grade and we get along great. We hope to improve the way plants grow during drought by using natural additives. Recently more and more articles have highlighted global warming and an increase in drought around the world, we hope that natural additives can increases that plants resistance to drought conditions.”
The two teenagers are very forward thinking, which is a good quality to have during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“This year we have decided to take a different approach to growing the pea plants and we have decided to grow them at my house so we are prepared in the event that school closes again,” Ms. Kehoe said.