Teen scientist back from D.C.

He returns from the nation's capital with new friends, cash and his own asteroid.

By LISA BUIE, Times Staff Writer
Published October 26, 2007

Josh Hammer looks over a group of cell plates he took from the refrigerator and handed to USF Graduate student Tina Fiorelli before they started work on his continuing project. Hammer spent a week in Washington, D.C., as one of 40 finalists in the ninth annual Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge.
	[Ken Helle | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Ken Helle | Times] Josh Hammer, flanked by Tina Fiorelli, left, a USF graduate student, and his mentor, Dr. Alison E. Willing, right, look over his lab manual before he began working on his ongoing research project, The Affect of Magnetism on CD4+T Helper Cells.

He got to rub shoulders with top scientists, visit the White House and work with a team to build a fire volcano.

Oh, and he walked away with $500 and Asteroid No. 23808 named for him.

Josh Hammer of Dade City spent a week in Washington, D.C., as one of 40 finalists in the ninth annual Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge. The contest is the largest one for middle schoolers. Josh, now a 14-year-old freshman at Zephyrhills High School, won the right to compete based on his work while a student at Centennial Middle School.

Josh's experiment studied the effect of magnetic fields on human T-cells, which are part of the immune system.

Top honors went to 11-year-old Erik Gustafson of Cortland, N.Y., the youngest student in the competition. Gustafson tracked the pH level in a stream behind his house and the effect of rainfall in increasing the acidity of the water. He won a $20,000 scholarship.

Finalists presented their research to judges and the public and had to explain the complexities of their work.

They also worked in teams on a series of environmental challenges that included evaluating how much power was needed by a converted electric Volkswagen, creating a fire tornado to study the effect a small amount of heat has on larger areas farther away, and compacting as much trash as possible into a 1-cubic-foot box.

Josh, who lost his voice during part of the contest, said he especially enjoyed talking to the public about his project when it was displayed at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural History.

"I talked to 4-year-olds to 86-year-olds," he said. Josh also made valuable friendships with the other finalists, who were already text messaging him as soon as he arrived back in Dade City.

But there was also time for sightseeing.

Josh and his parents, Donald and Cindy Hammer, traveled north a few days early so they could see the monuments and museums. They also visited U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, who arranged for a tour of the Capitol.

"She did a phenomenal job welcoming Josh to Washington," his mother said.

Josh's next big goal is to be a contestant in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for high school students.

But right now, he just wants to reclaim his spot in the high school marching band.

"He wanted to fly home early so he could make it to band practice," Cindy said.

Lisa Buie can be reached at buie@sptimes.com or 813 909-4604.

[Last modified October 25, 2007, 21:38:56]