62nd Annual STS (2002-2003)
Finalists
Sabrina Curie Snell

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Sabrina Curie Snell, 17, of Washington, D.C., used public domain satellite data, available on the Internet, to investigate anomalies in star motion measurements for her earth and space sciences entry in the Intel Science Talent Search. In this phase of her three-year research effort, she assessed linear and accelerated motions in double stars. She developed a technique using them as calibration objects for star catalogs, and believes that this might allow astronomers to detect white or brown dwarfs and extrasolar planets astrometrically, without the aid of a ground-based telescope or spectrometer. Sabrina is first in her class of 66 at School Without Walls Senior High School. She competes on the school's "It's Academic" team and is co-captain of the swim team. She has completed four successive summer internships at the U.S. Naval Observatory, and her many honors include awards in three Intel International Science and Engineering Fairs. She has also volunteered as an astronomy tutor for a gifted young dyslexic, and has authored a paper for American University explaining her methodology. The daughter of Bradford Curie Snell and Mary Martin Gant, Sabrina hopes to continue her studies at Harvard.