The Young File Name: Atalie Young Residence: Dormont Age: 17 Family: Mother, Elsa; father, Gary; brothers, Alan and David, 14; and sister, Molly Rose, 4 Notable: Young was one of 40 high school seniors from across the country chosen as a finalist in the Intel Science Talent Search.

Atalie Young's mother said that from a very early age her daughter showed an interest in science. 'She was always experimenting and digging in the dirt,' said Elsa Young. 'If a bird was abandoned by its mother, she would nurse it. She was always making mixtures in the kitchen.' All of the experimenting and trying to find out about things paid off recently for the senior at Keystone Oaks High School. Atalie Young's project about the effect of carbon dioxide on bean plants won her a place as one of 40 high school students nationwide to be named as finalists in the Intel Science Talent Search. Young entered the project she started in the basement of her Dormont home when she was in eighth grade. The experiment was designed to discover what impact global warming will have on agriculture in the future. For the competition, Young was able to do her research at a University of Pittsburgh lab. 'All of my projects (deal with) some kind of world problem,' said Young, who added that her first school science project was an attempt to grow plants in used coffee grounds. The 60-year-old Intel competition, the country's oldest and most prestigious pre-college science competition, is known as the 'Junior Nobel Prize.' Students in the competition were judged on their individual research reports for research ability, scientific originality and creative thinking. The projects covered all disciplines of science, including chemistry, physics, mathematics, engineering, social science and biology. As a finalist, Young won an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., as well as a $5,000 scholarship and an Intel computer. During her week in Washington, Young and the other finalists met with President Bush and Vice President Cheney, as well as well-known scientists and researchers. Young said she most enjoyed meeting and talking with the other finalists. Friendships were formed and the high school seniors are looking forward to seeing each other again in college, she said. 'I want to be with the brightest and the best,' said Young. 'I need that kind of environment.' As part of the competition, the students were interviewed by the judges who asked questions about their research projects and other subjects. 'It was like they wanted to see how you reacted to the question,' Young said. The students also were able to look at each other's projects, and Young said she was impressed with the different ideas the students had developed. The project Young said she thought was the best was where a student tried to develop a better bridge for the violin. After his research, the student discovered the best bridge 'is the one that's been used for hundreds of years,' she said. Being involved in a national science competition made her realize that Pennsylvania does not support young scientists as much as other states, Young said. 'Pennsylvania needs more funding overall,' Young said, adding that other states send more students to competitions. Despite her successes, science is not Young's only interest. She has been involved in forensics since fourth grade and currently competes in the humorous interpretation category. She is president of the Keystone Oaks Forensic Team and was instrumental in getting the group involved in service projects, including collecting items for the homeless and raising money for Special Olympics. 'I wanted to do projects that the whole school could be involved in and that would help the whole community,' she said. Young, who plays piano and mallet percussion, is a member of the high school marching band. She also is a painter and participated in the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts last summer at Mercyhurst College in Erie. Young said 1,600 students applied for the program and only 200 were accepted. 'I was extremely surprised to get in,' she said. 'There are probably people who are going to be artists who are dying to get in.' While at Mercyhurst, Young, a published poet, also participated in a poetry elective. The high school senior, who has applied to several universities, said she would like to study medicine with hopes of becoming a surgeon or pediatrician. 'I want to go to a bigger and better place with lots of opportunity,' she said. Young said her father encouraged her to participate in forensics, but all of her other interests and talents she developed on her own. 'I think a lot of what has developed is because I have a loving family and mainly because I have a lot of inner drive,' she said. Susan Schmeichel can be reached at sschmeichel@tribweb.com or (412) 306-4527.

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