Katie is a Girl Scout and a member of the First Lego League. She likes playing the piano and working outdoors with the All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventory. Katie hopes to pursue a career in law or atmospheric science: "an atmospheric scientist, because I am fascinated by storms; and a lawyer, because I am a good arguer."
Katie says her parents are her mentors because "they have always encouraged me to do my best in everything; and, my dad being a scientist, I was exposed to science early in life."
As a beekeeper, Katie discovered the topic for her science fair project at the Tennessee Honey Festival. She heard a talk about honey desensitizing one's allergies. The speaker explained that the pollen content of the honey was the key. Katie wanted to analyze the pollen content of honey to try to discover the nectar sources bees use for their fall honey crop.
With the cooperation of some fellow beekeepers, Katie collected seven nectar samples from a three-county region in East Tennessee. She created a microscope slide of the pollen by diluting 10 grams of each nectar sample with water and using a centrifuge to isolate the pollen and drain the water. Then Katie produced a reference collection of the plant specimens that were in bloom at the time the nectar samples were taken. She isolated the pollen from 23 floral specimens and created microscope slides of them. Finally, Katie compared the floral specimens with the pollen found in the nectar. Her conclusion was that the plant family Asteraceae contributes the most to the East Tennessee fall honey crop.
