Science scholarship finalist
GRADE 11 pupil Kiara Nirghin is over the moon at being picked by Google as one of 16 candidates around the world to make it to the finals of its science competition – and within grasp of a $50 000 (R675 000) scholarship.
The Johannesburg teenager, a pupil at St Martin’s School, has won the coveted Google Science Fair Community Impact award in the Africa and Middle East region and will be jetting to the US for the final awards ceremony on September 27, when the overall winner will be selected.
The Google Science Fair invites the brightest young minds from around the world to answer one important question: How can you make the world better through science, maths and engineering?
Kiara’s submission was titled “No More Thirsty Crops”.
She came up with a revolutionary way of keeping crops hydrated for longer at a much lower cost, using orange peels and avocado skins.
“It is a low-cost polymer that has the ability to retain almost hundreds of times of water compared to its own weight. In this way, when it is applied to the soil of plants, it creates mini reservoirs that allow plants to have a constant supply of water, even during drought periods,” she told POST.
Kiara, who said science had been coursing through her veins from a young age, was thrilled with the announcement by Google, adding she could not wait to travel overseas with her chaperone: her dad, Bob.
They will leave on September 21.
She said her wanted to study in the science field and had aspirations of attending Oxford or Harvard universities.
But she also would not mind attending South Africa’s own Wits University.
Said her mother, Rekha: “As a mother, it still feels like it’s a dream.
“It feels as if someone is going to pinch me and I will wake up.
“The world is now Kiara’s oyster. She can choose what she wants to do.”