Kasey plays basketball. She also enjoys her church youth group and its mission trips. As an athlete, Kasey is fascinated by the human body and would like to pursue a career in medical research or as a scientist. Kasey's science teacher is her mentor. "She is always so excited and energetic about teaching us what science has to offer. I love her enthusiasm," Kasey says.
Kasey's teacher told her about a Department of Energy plan to harvest methane hydrate—natural gas—from the ocean floor. She wondered what would happen if a pocket of gas exploded. Preliminary research uncovered stories of tsunamis generated from underwater gas explosions, including a large wave in Papua, New Guinea.
To show that an underwater gas explosion could create a wave, Kasey taped a balloon to the hose of an air compressor, sank the balloon and hose with a rock, and then overinflated and exploded the balloon. After 10 trials in two swimming pools, she concluded that underwater explosions do create waves. She then discovered an equation to calculate the speed of tsunamis. After locating methane hydrate deposits near the U.S. coast, she calculated how long it would take tsunamis to reach major cities. She concluded that an explosion at a large deposit called Blake Ridge would wash over Washington, DC, in less than an hour. She wrote a letter to the Department of Homeland Security warning of this possible danger.
