A Canberra teenager who discovered a way to detect previously undetectable steroids in athletes has been announced as a finalist in the BHP Science and Engineering Awards.
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It is 15-year-old Rose Weller's second nomination as a finalist, after she developed a way to clean up oil spills in the ocean for her year 9 science project.
Miss Weller worked with a research team at the Australian National University to develop the idea. She is the first school student in 15 years to be invited to conduct post-graduate studies at the university with the help of mentor Bradley Stevenson, a research fellow at the School of Chemistry.
Miss Weller said her science teacher at Daramalan College, Colin Price, had connections with the ANU school, and after they saw her oil spill project they were happy to have her on board.
"I learnt a lot about more in-depth chemistry," Miss Weller said, of her week in the ANU lab.
"I learnt a lot about the research itself and how being a researcher as a scientist is quite interesting, and the whole process of it."
But the results didn't come easy for the teen, who worked hard to understand what the processes meant.
"After each lab session, I'd have to come home and research for three to four hours just to get my head around the concepts, because it was post-grad university levels, and I've only done high school chemistry," she said.
But the hard work didn't turn her off, and she said despite times when she didn't think the project would come to fruition, it did.
"I was just so far in the deep end, I just had no idea what I was doing," she said.
"I'm pretty happy I actually finished it."
Miss Weller's project was nominated for recognition by a panel of science teachers in the ACT. The panel chooses the best projects from the entire cohort of year 10 science students across the capital to enter the awards.
She said she chose the topic because she has a passion for sport, and after watching the Olympics and seeing the doping happening there.
Miss Weller is the eldest of three children. Her mother Kelly believes her daughter could change the world.
"At this age, they don't have limitations on their thinking. Their brains are more open to new ideas, and if we encourage them, who knows what they'll find," Ms Weller said.
The 15-year-old hopes to become a doctor or a medical researcher in the future.
"I'd enjoy that because I want to help people overseas. I think it's really unfair how we have so much here but take it all for granted, and how people overseas especially in the developing countries don't really have anything.
She also hoped her research would be used to better the world.
"There is a lot in the world we don't know. If I can help us find that out, I will," she said.
Miss Weller is one of three Canberra finalists in the awards. The winners of the BHP Science and Engineering Awards will be announced on February 7 in Melbourne.
