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Westhampton Beach High School senior Nicasia Beebe-Wang was named a semi-finalist in the national Intel Science Talent Search last Wednesday, making her the first student ever to do so in the school district.
"I feel great," Beebe-Wang said. "It's very exciting for me and very exciting for the school."
More than 1700 students from 30 states entered the annual competition, one of the most prestigious pre-college science competitions in the country. The 17-year-old joins 52 high school seniors across Long Island and 102 in New York bestowed with the honor that includes 300 students nationally.
Forty of those 300 semi-finalists will be named finalists on January 23.
Beebe-Wang's science project focuses on cocaine addiction and how it affects the brain, with specific respect to dopamine levels in cocaine addicts, she said. She will receive $1000 from the Intel Foundation. Westhampton Beach School District will also receive $1000.
"This is an unbelievable accomplishment," said Westhampton Beach High School Principal Chris Herr. "We couldn't be prouder of her and this is truly a testament to things done here at the school."
All finalists will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington D.C., in early March where they will compete for prize money from Intel. Winners of the talent search will be announced on March 12 at a black tie gala awards ceremony at the National Building Museum, with the top prize being $100,000 and at least $7500 awarded to each of the other finalists.
"She's very excited," Herr said of Beebe-Wang. "This is a culmination of two years of work. She's been in the research program since she came here. It's absolutely tremendous."
Emily@indyeastend.com
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