Seniors Discuss Excitement for Scientific Projects
Credit: Isabella Yannuzzi
Isabella Yannuzzi works at Stone Barns Center bundling herbs.
May 1, 2016
For students who love science, the senior projects give them opportunities not usually afforded to high school students: assisting doctors, shadowing professionals, even conducting their own research. Three seniors, Isabella Yannuzzi, James Mattei, and Morgan Connor, are doing senior projects in environmental studies, pharmaceutical research, and sports medicine. Isabella Yannuzzi is working at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising “public awareness of healthy, seasonal, sustainable food.” At Stone Barns, Isabella will be helping collect food for the restaurant at the Center through foraging for indigenous edible plants and picking produce in their garden.
Isabella will also spread Stone Barns’ mission to Hackley using the skills she learns there to help the Hackley community. She will plant native wildflowers and plants that will attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Many of the plants are also edible and will serve as an addition to the Lower School garden, teaching students about foraging and sustainability.
“I love working at Stone Barns, and I think it would be nice to plant indigenous perennials around Hackley,” said Isabella. She hopes that her project will continue to enrich Hackley’s environment as they will regrow each year.
Five Hackley students are interning at Regeneron, a pharmaceuticals company in Tarrytown, for their senior project, but each is focusing on a different aspect of the company’s research. James is going to work in Regeneron’s Purification Department with Rachael Barton, a research assistant at Regeneron. This department works to separate antibodies produced by genetically altered cells from cellular waste. These antibodies can then be used to create new drugs. James will be working with Rachael in understanding this process, and doing research to help facilitate it.
James chose his senior project because of his sisters’ influence, both of whom are currently working in fields of science. “They have acted as my window into seeing what the bio med and research sciences have to offer and they inspired me to try and land the internship at Regeneron in the first place,” said James.
For her senior project, Morgan Connor is going to be interning at both Greenwich Sports Medicine and Stamford Twin Rinks. At Greenwich Sports Medicine, Morgan will be shadowing sports medicine doctors and performing basic tasks, allowing her to acquire skills and learn information specific to that profession.
The innovative ways in which technology and medicine are combined at Greenwich Sports Medicine, from a compression machine that helps flush out lactic acid to electric acupuncture, is what excites Morgan about working there. “Working at the rink will be the most exciting part of the internship for me because I want to be a Sports Medicine doctor for a NHL team someday,” said Morgan. Her work at the Stamford Twin Rinks and at Greenwich Sports Medicine combines Morgan’s two passions—medicine and sports—as well as preparing her for the job she hopes to have in the future.
