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NPR Interview (July 2011) - Follow link to listen to interview

More than 7,000 individuals and teams competed in Google’s global science far. Shree Bose, 17, of Texas took home the grand prize for her work on drug resistance in treating ovarian cancer.

Copyright © 2011 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

TRANSCRIPT

STEVE INSKEEP, host: Some other news. Google has announced the winners of its first global science fair. As NPR’s Wendy Kaufman reports, it was a clean sweep for young women.

WENDY KAUFMAN: Seventeen-year-old Shree Bose of Fort Worth, Texas took home the grand prize for her work on drug resistance in treating ovarian cancer. To say she was surprised would be an understatement.

Ms. SHREE BOSE: I was, I mean to be presenting in front of Nobel Laureates and to be judged by them and then to be picked as a science fair winner by them, that just doesn’t happen every day. (Soundbite of laughter)

KAUFMAN: Bose’ first foray into science fair competition occurred when she as in second grade. She tried to find out if kids would eat more spinach if it were blue instead of green, but she neglected to water her plants. Today, her research is a lot more sophisticated, involving cancer cells and proteins. She won a $50,000 scholarship, along with a 10-day expedition to the Galapagos for her efforts.

Ms. BOSE: Throughout my entire life I’ve always loved science. I’ve loved watching it, doing it, understanding it mostly, and now to be able to explain science to other people, that’s the biggest step for me as a scientist.

KAUFMAN: Some 10,000 students entered the competition and in the end three women, including Bose were declared the winners in their age brackets. One of the others looked at how different marinades could reduce carcinogens in grilled chicken, while the third winner examined the effect of air pollution on asthma. World class science and technology companies are always on the lookout for talent and they hope competitions like this encourage more young people to study science and engineering.

Wendy Kaufman, NPR News.

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WBUR Interview (August 2011) –  Follow link to listen

The first-ever Google Science Fair ended last month with females winning all three age categories.

The grand prize went to 17-year-old Shree Bose. The soon-to-be senior at Fort Worth Country Day School in Texas won for her groundbreaking findings into how to prevent resistance to the ovarian cancer drug Cisplatin.

Could this be a sign of the strides women have made in science and engineering?

Statistics show though they’re competing equally with men in terms of receiving science degrees, they still make up a significantly smaller percentage of the science workforce.

The key to advancement, some experts say, is what Shree Bose found in the university scientist who supervised her research: a strong mentor.

Bose told Here & Now‘s Robin Young that finding that mentor wasn’t easy.

“I was a 15-year old girl just randomly asking professors if I could work in their lab, and I got rejected,” she said. “The one who actually accepted me was a woman herself.”

Guests:

Other stories from Friday’s show