Stamford High senior wins science accolades
Stamford teenager Megan Armstrong was recently named an Honorary Canadian Space Programme Scientist by the Canadian Space Agency. Armstrong, a Stamford High School senior, received the honor for her contributions to experiments in the field of space farming, a critical element in the design of a life-support system needed to send humans to other planets, according to a statement from Stamford Public Schools.
Over the summer, Armstrong tended to more than 30 large tomato plants, collecting data for research as part of First The Seed Foundation’s Tomatosphere Program, a curriculum program that uses space exploration to teach the skills and processes of scientific experimentation and inquiry, the district said in their statement.
The seeds Armstrong planted last summer were a mixture of spaceflown and Earth-based seeds. The space-flown seeds, part of SpaceX’s ninth commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station, remained at the ISS for 37 days, before traveling back to Earth and being distributed to experiments across the United States and Canada. Armstrong was part of a blind study with other scientists monitoring plant growth and the effects of microgravity on seed germination. The CSA recognized Armstrong for the quality of her data.
Armstrong is using her seed research as part of her International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme’s Extended Essay, which will be submitted in March. Every IB Diploma Candidate must complete the Extended Essay Process in which students, under the supervision of an expert faculty member, design a research question in a field of interest. Armstrong’s idea for her research germinated in a meeting with Susan Dougherty, a Stamford High teacher. With the guidance of Dougherty, Armstrong participated in the real-life science project in support of NASA, CSA, and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space.
“It was an honor for me to work with Megan,” Doughtery said. “Megan did such a great job and her research is now being used by PhDs working in the field of seed science.”