63rd Annual STS (2003-2004)
Finalists
Simeon Charles McMillan

NEW YORK
Simeon Charles McMillan, 17, of Baldwin, submitted a three-year study that traced the relationships between frogs and toads from North and South America by bioacoustic analysis of their calls for his Intel Science Talent Search project in zoology. Simeon selected frogs and toads of the genus Hylidae for his study because they are widely distributed. Using professional recordings, he created spectrograms of their sounds and then converted them to numeric code that could be translated into cladograms or evolutionary trees. He found that while frogs and toads could change their rhythmic patterns, their frequency range is an ancestral characteristic distinct to each species. Simeon concluded that despite the differences in appearance among species, biological relationships could be traced non-invasively through their sound patterns. First in his class of 374 at Uniondale High School, Simeon is fluent in Spanish and active in the Spanish Honor Society. He plays violin in the school orchestra and in a string quartet he started. Among his many honors are the All-Eastern and All-State Orchestras. The son of Benet and Doloures McMillan, Simeon plans to study engineering and business at the University of Pennsylvania.