Congratulations to Seán O’Driscoll who competed in the recent BT Young Scientist competition. Seán collects information about air quality for NASA and is involved in an international science and education programme called GLOBE that is sponsored by NASA and supported by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and An Taisce. He is working in the area of citizenship science carrying out scientific measurements and observations. The measurements involve him using an instrument called a Calitoo, which was designed and manufactured in the French space centre. This instrument allows him to measure the thickness of aerosols in the atmosphere. 

All of Seán’s findings are uploaded to the GLOBE database alongside the data from 96 other countries around the world. Seán’s data collection will be of vital importance for scientists for research and change in policy in relation to air pollution. He is one of the very few people in Ireland carrying out such work. Katherina Kinsella - Seán’s science teacher, recently spoke at the EPA’s air quality conference in Kilkenny in relation to her involvement with GLOBE. “The data collected by Seán will be compared with figures from France, America and Japan so we can assess air pollution in Carlow,” she said. 

Seán brought the data-collecting instrument Calitoo to the RDS to show the judges how he works. Fifth Yeas student Peter Dowling made the robot which acted as a 'sort of ‘weather man’ and can predict weather conditions in the Carlow area. Seán is the son of Mary and Eddie O’Driscoll and is a keen member of the school’s science club. 

The experience of the competition and the encouragement received from everyone including Evelyn Cusak will hopefully inspire Seán to continue his research.