A wEst Islip High School senior is heading to Brookhaven National Lab this month to conduct an analysis of the Great South Bay bottom sediment and whther or not it affects the decline of local clam populations.
Bailey McLaughlin will be working with a beamline scientist throughout the project, and will share her expereience with her fellow WIHS students via webcam.
The project started when McLaughlin wrote a proposal which was submitted for review in a competitive, peer-reviewed process. The proposal was approved through the InSynC program, which trains teachers and students to write proposals for beamline use and then gain remote access to a synchrotron for data analysis.
McLaughlin will share her findings with the Town of Islip Shellfish Hatchery and The Nature Conservancy.
