Kaitlyn Kaufman, a student at Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School, was recently honored as a semi-finalist in the 2006 Young Naturalist Competition and was ranked among the top 24 in the nation. The Young Naturalist Competition is sponsored by the Museum of Natural History and encourages students to go on an expedition in their community, identify a problem, delve into it and explore possible solutions to the problem. It is a research-based essay contest for students in seventh through twelfth grade to promote participation and communication in science.

Kaitlyn's inspiration came directly from her front yard when she discovered a weed had no natural method of control. With the help of Mrs. O'Donnell, the district research coordinator, and Dr. Tamson Yeh of Cornell Cooperative of Riverhead, they identified the invasive plant species as Celastrus orbiculatus. Kaitlyn then experimented with various plant control methods until she found one that best prohibited the growth of the plant. Kaitlyn recently shared her project at the Long Island Congress and interned with Dr. Gurevich, a botanist, at Stony Brook University this summer. This is the first year that JFK High School in Plainview-Old Bethpage has students participating.