Silver Spring, MD – October 25, 2006 – Out of an original field of thousands of middle school students across the United States, 14-year-old Nolan Kamitaki was chosen today as "America's Top Young Scientist of the Year" by a panel of judges at the 8th annual Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge (DCYSC). Kamitaki, a student at Waiakea Intermediate School in Hilo, Hawaii, was selected as the grand prize winner from an elite group of forty of the top young scientists in the nation and was awarded a $20,000 scholarship.

The DCYSC, created by Discovery Communications and Society for Science & the Public, provides students the opportunity to not only test their knowledge and push their limits as they explore the world of science, but it encourages them to be able to be great science communicators and share what they know with others, a core objective of Discovery's efforts. The DCYSC is the nation's premier science contest for students in grades 5-8.

The second-place winner in the competition was 14-year-old Jacob Hurwitz of Rockville, MD, and third place was awarded to 15-year-old Amy David of Pinedale, WY. The best team in the competition won the Smithsonian National Zoological Park Team Award. Members of the winning team included Nicholas Anthony of Fort Myers, FL; Amy David of Pinedale, WY; Shilpi Ganguly of Overland Park, KS; Anthony Hennig of Powhatan, VA; and Nolan Kamitaki of Hilo, HI. Other top prizes included:

• The Animal Planet "Animals Everywhere" Award- Jayne Thompson of Pinedale, WY
• Discovery Commerce "Sights to See" Award- Jack Grundy of Louisville, KY
• Discovery Channel "Atlas" Award- Mackensie Quade of New Brighton, MN
• Discovery Health "Forensics Camp" Award- Scott Yu of Rockville, MD
• TLC-TURBO Science of Production Award- Joseph Church of Washington, DC
• Lowell Observatory "Star Gazer" Award- Nicholas Anthony of Fort Myers, FL
• Military Channel "Aviation Challenge" Award- Anthony Hennig of Powhatan, VA
• The Science Channel "Space Camp" Award- Taylor Jones of Marysville, TN
• Discovery Times "Tech Trip" Award- David Tao of Bethesda, MD
• Discovery Kids "TV Star" Award- Aaron Burrows of San Antonio, TX
• Travel Channel "Dream Science Trip" Award- David Cohn III of Poway, CA
• Discovery Education "Educator" Award- W. Garrett Pete of Lakeville, MN
• National Park Service "Explorer" Award- Theresa Oei of Hebron, CT

The awards ceremony took place today at the Discovery Channel's headquarters outside Washington DC and featured remarks by Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, John Hendricks, Founder and Chairman of Discovery and Judith McHale, President and CEO of Discovery. Scott Yu of Rockville, MD was chosen by the finalists as the student speaker at the ceremony.

The theme of this year's DCYSC, "Disease Detectives.", featured a series of challenges in which selected students investigated global health concerns, their causes and their impact – from avian flu to obesity. This focus sparked the interest of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) which, since 1887, has helped lead the way toward important medical discoveries that improve people's health and save lives. NIH collaborated with DCYSC in the final round of the 2006 challenge, including hosting this year's program. In this capacity, the Institutes also worked with the competition's lead scientist to formulate and design the experiments, built around current health trend issues.

"Congratulations to Nolan Kamitaki and all our winners who inspire everyone around them to get excited about science," said John Hendricks, Founder and Chairman, Discovery Communications. "Discovery is proud to continue our longstanding tradition of supporting middle school education and students like Nolan who are the next generation of American scientists."

The Finalists
The 40 finalists, and contenders for the title of "America's Top Young Scientist," hailed from 20 states and the District of Columbia. The top states represented are Florida with 7 finalists, California (4), Texas (4), Maryland (3), and Colorado, Hawaii, Michigan, Minnesota and Wyoming, each with 2. States who sent one finalist to this year's Challenge were Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Finalists were selected from a group of 400 semifinalists who were announced in August. These semifinalists were chosen from 1,900 formal entries, drawn from an initial pool of 70,000 students who entered science fairs nationwide affiliated with Society for Science & the Public.

The finalists were chosen based on their written essays about science fair projects that each had presented at their local science fairs across the country. During the DCYSC finals, the finalists presented their research to judges and the public, using their communication skills and creative thinking as science communicators to explain the complexities of their research.

Bios and interviews with the finalists, as well as B-roll of the Challenge, are available upon request. The full list of 40 finalists, their hometowns and schools and the titles of their winning entries can be found at: http://www.discovery.com/dcysc.

About the Competition
The 40 finalists traveled to Washington, D.C. October 21st through 25th, where they took part in the DCYSC finalist competition at the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The finalists competed in team-based, interactive challenges designed around the theme of "Disease Detectives." The young scientists had to use their scientific know-how to find solutions to this year's challenges.

From the global scare of bird flu to the domestic epidemic of obesity, this year's theme was poignantly relevant. Each challenge required the young scientists to rely on their broad range of scientific knowledge in order to explore and understand today's health issues. The students were presented with a wide range of experiments to test their science skills. These action-packed activities were taped for broadcast on the Discovery Channel.

About the Competition
In 1999, Discovery Communications and Society for Science & the Public created the DCYSC to help address America's chronic underachievement in science and math. The contest responds to evidence that academic performance and interest in science among American students declines dramatically as students get older – particularly during the middle school years.

The DCYSC identifies and honors America's top middle school student who demonstrates the best skills in leadership, teamwork and scientific problem solving. In addition, the ability to be an effective science communicator – a goal that reflects Discovery's philosophy that scientific knowledge is most valuable when it is communicated and shared – is a key component of the judging.

More than 13,000 children have entered the DCYSC since its inception eight years ago. Winners have received approximately $700,000 in scholarship awards and federal government recognition, and have participated in science-related trips that have taken them to the far corners of the globe.

Discovery is pleased to have Elmer's as a DCYSC sponsor. Elmer's has a proud tradition of supporting education, including science. Elmer's believes science taught through Science Fairs serves as a major benefit to students, allowing them to develop skills in problem solving, research, writing, public speaking and time management.

Discovery Communications, Inc. is the leading global real-world media company with operations in 170 countries and territories reaching 1.4 billion cumulative subscribers. DCI's over 100 networks of distinctive programming represent 28 trusted brands including Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet. DCI's other properties consist of Discovery Education and COSMEO, a revolutionary online homework help service, as well as Discovery Commerce, which operates more than 100 Discovery Channel Stores in the U.S. Discovery brings the real world to the whole world through its global multiplatform initiatives including Discovery Travel Media, Discovery Mobile and multiple broadband services. DCI's ownership consists of four shareholders: Discovery Holding Company (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB), Cox Communications, Inc., Advance/Newhouse Communications and John S. Hendricks, the Company's Founder and Chairman. More information about Discovery and its businesses can be found at www.discovery.com.

Society for Science & the Public is the non-profit organization that administers the DCYSC. Based in Washington, DC, Society for Science & the Public is dedicated to advancing the understanding and appreciation of science around the globe through its publications, outreach, and educational programs. A leading and widely respected organization advancing the cause of science, Society for Science & the Public has a sterling reputation for producing high-quality competitions on the national and international level, including the Intel Science Talent Search and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Society for Science & the Public also publishes Science News magazine, reaching over 1 million readers weekly, as well as the online, interactive Science News for Kids (www.sciencenewsforkids.org). For more information about Society for Science & the Public, its programs, and publications, please visit www.societyforscience.org.

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