Emer Hicker, Ciara Judge and Sophie Healey-Thow at the Google Science Fair

When we were 14, Emer was gardening with her Mum when they pulled a pea plant out of the garden to discover small wart like nodules on the roots. Emer, who didn’t know a lot about gardening asked our science teacher about these nodules.

Our teacher told the whole class about a bacteria that lived in these nodules called Rhizobium. She told us all about the process of nitrogen fixation and we were amazed! As 14 year olds, it seemed like a superhero bacteria!  Around the same time, we were in Geography class, when we were told about the food crisis in the Horn of Africa. We were shocked at the sufferings being experienced so the three of us questioned – would we be able to use science to aid the food crisis? And could Rhizobium bacteria be used for this?

We decided to see if Rhizobium Bacteria could be used to speed up the germination rate of crops such as Barley and Oats, and little did we think it would work. After performing Germination tests, Enzyme analysis, Small scale field trials and large scale field trials on over 12,000 seeds, we found some interesting results. Our results showed a decrease in the time taken to germinate the seeds by up to 50% and an increase in the dry mass yield by up to 70%.

Our project has given us amazing opportunities to visit science events, not only here in Ireland, but all over the world too. After winning our national competition, The BT Young Scientist, we were given the opportunity to represent Ireland in the European Union Contest for Young Scientists. We travelled to Prague and it was here where we were given a further opportunity to go to LIYSF.

LIYSF really was a once in a lifetime event. It ways, it’s almost impossible to put it into words. First of all, the lectures were so informative and we were exposed to different areas of science which we hadn’t explored before. Not only were they informative, but interactive too with a large portion of time dedicated to questions and answers.

 We didn’t think we would ever be at an event with so many like-minded people, but friendships for life were defiantly forged. Not only did we learn a lot about science, but we discovered new cultures and new people from every corner of the globe. It’s safe to say we learned a lot about ourselves too.  It was such an unforgettable 2 weeks, and for us, it was one of the highlights of the year. Never have we felt so at home, while away from home.

It was while on the CERN Discovery Programme that the news broke that we were in the final of The Google Science Fair, and would be travelling to Silicon Valley the following month. We even had to do an interview with Google from a hotel room in Geneva!

Going to Google HQ in America was such a unique experience and in case you are wondering, it is exactly as seen in the movies with volleyball courts, surf pools and food every 50 metres! We were competing against 15 other participants, and similar to LIYSF, friends were made from all over the world.  It was so heart-warming to receive messages of luck from those we met at LIYSF and we really wanted to make everyone proud.

On the awards night, when they called out our names as the overall winners, we were in complete shock, speechless! The other projects were phenomenal and anyone could have taken the prize! (But we really didn’t expect it to be us) The trophies received are made entirely of Lego and in the next few months we will be travelling to Galapagos Islands, Washington and Astronaut Training with Virgin Galactic as part of the prize. Since the competition we have had a whirlwind couple of months, speaking at science events all over the place but now are settling back into school (and trying to catch up on everything we missed!)

But what have we learned from the past three years? Well the theme of the Google Science Fair is changing the world. Ideas can make a difference – no matter how big or small. At LIYSF, it become clear to us, that together we can make a massive difference to the future of our world. People from different cultures were discussing and debating an array new ideas that really can make a positive impact on this world that is so often overshadowed by negativity. We have to act on these ideas, because realistically, what is stopping you?

Written by Emer Hickey, on behalf of the winning team at the Google Science Fair - Emer Hicker, Ciara Judge, and Sophie Healy-Thow, all former participants at the London International Youth Science Forum - apply here.