Project on Kuiper Belt Wins High School Student a Week at NASA Ames Research Center

Researchers at Ames work very hard in their fields but they also understand the importance of mentoring the younger generation. Morielle Stroethoff, a high school junior in Missoula, Montana feels that she got very lucky when she got an email back from Dr. Dale Cruikshank when she was looking for information for her project.
“I got a lot of advice from Dale Cruikshank,” Stroethoff said. At the time, she was unaware that Cruikshank is an expert on the Kuiper belt, the subject of Stroethoff’s project. In previous blogs, we learned about Cruikshank’s thoughts on mentoring and from one other previous mentor. Stroethoff first entered a science fair in her sophomore year at the suggestion of her freshman science teacher, Gary Gagermeier.
In her junior year, Stroethoff entered the same competition but this time with greater success. She was one of two winners. This fair was affiliated with the International Science and Engineering Fair sponsored by the Intel Corporation. She then went on to the larger event in Albequerque, N.M. to compete. At that point, she was contacted by New Mexico Technology and was offered a four-year scholarship. “I didn’t expect to win the small fair in Montana. I was doing it for the experience and because I had previously done a science fair as a sophomore. I knew you could win small awards. I knew I wanted to participate in my senior year and I wanted the experience,” Stroethoff commented. “I just got lucky with mentorship and scholarship.”
Luck may have played some role in this, but Stroethoff worked very hard and had to be very precise with her project. Stroethoff’s project included models of the Kuiper belt objects, which are small outer solar system bodies, which she mixed herself. “Pluto would be an example of a very large Kuiper belt object,” Stroethoff explains. Stroethoff then reflected light off of the objects to determine what would be probable materials on the Kuiper belt.
“Astronomers determine surface composition using the light reflection. I compared the light reflected off the Kuiper belt to light reflected off models that I physically made to determine what would be probable materials on the Kuiper belt.”
Stroethoff researched the Kuiper belt to determine that the best materials for her to build her models with were carbon, coal, charcoal, and some clays, such as serpentine. She based this decision on Cruikshank’s advice and literature she read. In fact, Cruikshank sent some of the materials to use for making the models.
In 2000, the Educational Equity of Girls and Women and the National Education Center for Education statistics found that girls tend to lose interest in math and science in middle school. The statistics showed that in fourth grade, the number of boys and girls who like math and science is about equal but by eighth grade, twice as many boys as girls show an interest in these subjects.
So, at an age when girls are losing interest in math and science, it seems that Stroethoff’s interest only grows. “Most of my friends from school are not into science but they think it is really cool that I am.” Stroethoff comes from a background strong in math; her father is a math professor. “I have always been good at math. I didn’t know that I was also good at science.”
Because Stroethoff did so well in the fair, she also received an invitation to study here at Ames for a week. “I’m here learning how to do synthetic models instead of physical models because I have a lot more control of variables. I will definitely be using this tool in my project next year but I don’t know what that project will be yet. It’s really nice I get to work on this year’s project just to have fun since I have already won this scholarship.”
In her week at Ames, Stroethoff has found herself looking at the interns and thinking of her future. “When I see interns here I think that might be me in a couple of years.”