Massapequa High School student Kerry Ann Geiler has taken 7th place in the Intel science competition, the nation's best known research contest for high school students.

Geiler, who is known affectionately as the "Ant Queen," was recognized for her groundbreaking research on ants, which determined how various species of the insect communicate with each other. Kerry decoded the language that ants use to "talk" to each other by assigning a code for the various movements made by them. She also identified chemicals ants secrete to communicate messages to the entire colony.

Geiler did her work through the Massapequa High School Science Research Program, which provides a self-contained research laboratory in the high school for student researchers. The district invests approximately $85,000 a year into the program, which is coordinated by Paul A. Lichtman, PharmD.

The results of the Intel contest were announced Monday, and Geiler was one of three Long Island students who were among the top ten winners.

After being named a semi-finalist in January from a pool of more than 1,500 initial research submissions, Geiler continued to advance in the competition, being named one of seven finalists from Long Island a few weeks later. By receiving the prestigious seventh prize, Geiler's project was dubbed among the best of 40 finalists from throughout the country. For winning seventh place, she was awarded a $20,000 scholarship.

Massapequa School District spokesperson Bob Schilling expressed much pride in the student this week. "She works so hard and is so dedicated to this, and she's just a great all around kid," he said.

"She's one of these kids that, you look at everything she does and she does it all well. And you're just amazed that she's able to keep up with everything."

He noted that Geiler is a black belt in karate, plays saxaphone, is editor of the school newspaper, and is ranked number 14 in her class. "She's just so well-rounded, and so deserving every accolade that she gets," Schilling added.