Local Teens Win National Science Award at AMNH May 27

Follow 12 Young Naturalist Awards winners, ages 13-18, on an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the American Museum of Natural History's paleontology and invertebrate collections. These aspiring scientists, who won the Museum's nationwide research contest by detailing and analyzing their scientific investigations, will meet working scientists and explore the Museum's dinosaur fossils in the Big Bone Room, a giant squid in the Invertebrates Collection, and lizards in the Herpetology Lab.

All winners are available for interviews, including Henry Lim, a 15-year-old student from the Upper East Side who studied the behavior of baboons at the Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn, and Kalia Firester, a 9th grader from Hunter College High School who discovered that green chili and garlic make excellent natural insecticides.

After the behind-the-scenes tour, the students will gather for the 14th Annual Young Naturalist Awards ceremony in the Astor Turret where they will receive award certificates and cash prizes.

WHEN Friday, May 27, 2011
Awards Ceremony-12:30 -1:30 p.m.

WHO Museum officials and 12 award-winning youngsters from Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, and Virginia

The Young Naturalist Awards is a nationwide, science-based research contest for students in grades 7 through 12. The contest, presented by the Museum and supported by Alcoa Foundation, challenges youngsters to embark on their own scientific investigations and then to present their research by documenting their methods, observations, and analyses of the natural world. Investigations undertaken by this year's winners ranged from exploring the effects of DEET on bioluminescent organisms to evaluating the feeding preferences of Painted Lady butterflies. The Young Naturalist Awards is a program of the National Center for Science Literacy, Education, and Technology, part of the Museum's Department of Education.