Spencer's favorite hobby is geology, followed closely by botany. He plays the piano and enjoys golf and soccer. As a future aerospace engineer, he hopes "to design projects for spaceflight."
Spencer read an EPA report detailing possible lead and arsenic contamination in his area. His interest in the local geography and history, along with an interest in learning about environmental toxins, made this an ideal project. He hypothesized that he would find evidence of unacceptably high concentrations of lead and arsenic in Herriman and Butterfield Creek.
He collected soil samples of the same size and depth in a number of locations in the area. He dried the samples and analyzed the results with an advanced technique, inductively coupled plasma testing. Many of his samples showed lead and arsenic levels above EPA standards. This remains a concern because of the housing development in this growing area of Utah.
