Fort Worth Country Day senior Shree Bose has already received the big envelope of acceptance from Harvard University. She awaits responses from others such as Stanford University and Johns Hopkins University, but while she is waiting she took the opportunity to present her award-winning research in the nation’s capital.
Bose presented her research on ovarian cancer drug resistance at the second White House Science Fair on Feb. 7.
The event was hosted by President Barack Obama and was attended by more than 100 student representatives of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) competitions and organizations from around the country, according to whitehouse.gov.
“It was just a really cool experience getting to meet all these great scientists who are out their keeping charge of our scientific world in the United States,” said Bose.
Last summer, Bose gained international recognition with her grand prize win at the first Google Science Fair. Bose competed with more than 10,000 students from around the world. Bose, along with the other two Google Science Fair winners visited the White House and met Obama in the Oval Office last year, according to the Google Science Fair website.
Since Bose won the Google Science Fair last year, she has been honored as one of Glamour Magazine’s 21 Amazing Young Women of 2011 and served as a panelist for the Google Zeitgeist Conference alongside Chelsea Clinton she said.
Bose said five students were invited to the White House from the 2011 Google Science Fair competition including Naomi Shah, winner in the 15-16 age category, and Lauren Hodge, winner in the 13-14 age category. Two of the five students were selected as the presenters. As 2011 Google Science Fair grand prize winner, Bose was selected as one of those two presenters.
Bose said students were set up all over the White House. Her table was located on the landing by the Rose Garden, so everyone who walked in saw her bright, red Google table.
The event allowed her to present her research to several renowned scientists, including the Director of the National Cancer Institute Harold Varmus and John Holdren, assistant to the president for science and technology and director of White House office of science and technology policy. Varmus said her research project raised interesting paradoxes.
One of her favorite moments of the event was meeting Bill Nye, chief executive officer of the Planetary Society and host of the former TV show "Bill Nye the Science Guy."
“Bill Nye the Science Guy is actually legitimately funny in real life.” Bose said
Nye took a picture with her and tweeted, “About to meet the president. Are we excited?” The two even sat next to each other during the president’s speech on the impact of STEM education programs in the economic future of the country.
During the speech, the president announced key steps to increase student interest in STEM subjects, including millions of dollars in new funding to improve math and sciene education, according to whitehouse.gov.
Bose said she respects the president’s initiative to encourage interests in the next generation for science, math, technology and engineering programs. Although she did not get to present her research to the president personally, she was able have a brief moment with him.
“I saw President Obama and that doesn’t happen every day,” Bose said. “He shook my hand after remarks to the press.”
Bose planned to continue her research in college and encouraged other students pursue their interests in science.
“I want to help people and I want more students to get interested in science because I know how I started, Bose said.” “I know that so many kids out there have the potential to do great science and they think they can’t and they really can.”
