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Patch Whiz Kid of the Week: Kristen Chinn

This high school senior is spending her summer vacation at UC Davis working on science-related research.

Each week, San Bruno Patch will feature an amazing kid, youth group, teen or sports team that wows us with their accomplishments. 

This week, we feature a high school senior who is among the few that have been selected for the six-week Young Scholars Program at UC Davis.

Patch Whiz Kid of the Week

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Name/Age: Kristen Chinn, 17

School:

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Accomplishment: Chinn was selected for the UC Davis Young Scholars Program, where she will spend six weeks doing college level environmental research.

Chinn and 39 other students were chosen based on their strong academic record, recommendations from teachers and a short answer application and personal essay.

Offered by the UC Davis School of Education, the program offers high achieving high school students an opportunity to immerse themselves in the careers they are already thinking about pursuing. Each student is assigned an individual project and works one-on-one with the science faculty for six weeks. During the first two, students attend lectures in the morning and work in the lab in the afternoon. The last four weeks are spent entirely in the lab. At the end of the six weeks, each student prepares a professional research paper and presents their work.

Chinn paired up with Professor Emily Carlson for research in the Wetlands Ecology Lab. She investigates agricultural runoff and what happens to it when it flows into streams. To do this, she and Carlson test soil samples from agricultural fields in Yolo County.

“Kristen has a very vital role and is next to me in the lab daily with a pipette in her hand,” said Carlson. “She is helping to conduct an experiment where phosphorus solutions are added to test tubes of soils and then shaken for 24 hours and filtered. At the end of the 6 week program she will have done it 1,440 times. That is quit a feat and I couldn’t have done it without her help.”

When their research is complete, Chinn and Carlson will finish their paper and present it.

“Our goal is to get it published in a science journal,” said Chinn.

On weekends, the students embark on field trips.

The first weekend, the group went to the Bodega Bay Marine Lab and learned about tidepools.

For the second, the students went to Donner Summit in South Lake Tahoe where they hiked and learned about the geography of the area.

The third field trip took them to the Tahoe Environmental Research Center, an extension of UC Davis. During the trip, the students boated onto the water to learn about plankton and the changing conditions of the area. They also got to see a fish nursery.

“It's a really great experience to live away from home and get a feel for what the campus is like,” said Chinn. “In the research lab, I can see if this is what I want to do.”

Last summer, Chinn also participated in the California State Summer School for Mathmatics and Science or COSMOS program, also at UC Davis. During the four-week program, students stayed in the dorms and took classes with UC professors.

In the afternoons, students went to the computer lab to work on a final project. Chinn took the Anatomy of Global Climate Change cluster. For her final project, she evaluated the carbon footprint of a local business, which included measuring the amounts and suggesting ways of reducing their carbon footprint.

In her junior year, Chinn interned at a non-profit company called Sustainable San Mateo County, where she helped evaluate homes to see how much energy was being wasted and then suggested renovations that could help improve energy efficiency.

Chinn participates in the International Baccalaureate Programme at Capuchino High School. According to Capuchino's website, the program engenders internationalism, critical thinking, college level writing and analysis.

She and other classmates conducted a class biology project on the Japanese earthquake early this year and its biological, physical, chemical and environmental effects. She also has to write a major research paper, for which she has chosen environmental science as her topic. At the end of her final year, Chinn will have to take six IB tests to see if she is eligible to receive the IB diploma.

Chinn also participates in Invisible Children: Schools for Schools, a club at Capuchino that raises money for building schools in Uganda. She was a debate team officer in her freshman year and participated in her high school band for two years playing percussion. She is currently on the Capuchino swim team.

Outside of school, Chinn studies ballet and participates in the Rising Stars, the San Francisco Taiko Dojo's youth contingent. Chinn plays percussion twice a year in two large shows – the International Taiko Festival and The Cherry Blossom Festival. She played piano for 11 years.

Motivation: “Both of my parents have science-related professions, so I guess it runs in the family,” said Chinn. “I think protecting the environment is crucial for our generation, which is why I want to major in environmental science in college.”

Chinn is motivated to get into a good school.

“I think what motivates Kristen are being around other kids who have similar aspirations as she does, as in the IB program at Capuchino and the Young Scholars and COSMOS programs that she has attended at UC Davis,” said Kristen's mother, Julie Chinn. “She is motivated to attend these programs so that she can see if environmental science is actually a field of study that she would like to major in in college and pursue as a career.”

Key to Awesomeness: “Kristen is a very mature and responsible individual,” said Carlson. “She is very 'with it.' She is able to handle any task I give her and determine what needs to be done on her own.”

Julie said there are other students just like Kristen who can handle the stress of a difficult academic load, extracurricular activities and a social life.

“Kristen is the kind of kid every parent would like – she has had very few teenage moments, enjoys doing things with her family, is very responsible and just fun to be with,” said Julie. “I'll miss her immensely when she goes away to college in a year.”

Plans for the Future: “I know how competitive it is to get into a good college,” said Chinn. “My dream school is UC Berkeley and it's hard to get in there.”

Chinn plans on majoring in environmental science with an emphasis in biology or something related such as conservation or environmental economics. What she will do following college she hasn't yet determined.

“It depends on what my major is, but I'll definitely be working with the environment in some way,” said Chinn.

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