65th Annual STS (2005-2006)
Finalists
Allison Mae Gardner

NEW YORK
Allison Mae Gardner, 17, of Bedford, submitted a zoology project to the Intel Science Talent Search investigating two mosquito-borne illnesses affecting horses in the northeast: West Nile virus and eastern equine encephalitis. Over two summers, Allison studied 19 of the 55 mosquito species known to exist throughout New York. She collected 1,838 female mosquitoes at two area stables and dissected 787 of them to determine their ages. She found that mosquitoes collected at season's end tend to be older and more likely to be infected. She suggests that minimizing the insects' breeding grounds in late summer may help reduce the viral risk to horses and humans. Allison, who began horseback riding at seven, enjoys English jumping and volunteers with the Pegasus Therapeutic Riding program. At Byram Hills High School in Armonk, Allison is active in the orchestra, newspaper and peer tutoring club. The winner of the University of Chicago Book Award and first oboe for the Greater Westchester Youth Orchestra, Allison hopes to attend college at Williams or Amherst. The daughter of Thomas and Wendy Gardner, Allison plans to become a physics professor or equine veterinarian.