Senior Lucy Li recently won semi-finalist recognition in the Intel Science Talent Search, one of the nation’s most prestigious high school science competitions.

Li’s deeper scientific investigations began during her junior year in Advanced Science Research, a class designed to let upperclassmen taste the world of independent scientific research. Little did she know, Li was in for much more than a taste of research.

Interested in biofuels, Li explored switchgrass’ potential as a viable and alternative energy source. “I was taking a type of lignocellulosic biomass called switchgrass, which is really popular in the Midwest because of all the prairies. But, lignin barriers must be removed in order to reach the cellulose inside of the switchgrass plant and make biofuels,” she said. In other words, if it could be stripped of its outer layer, switchgrass had the potential to be an excellent source of biofuels.

Her solution to this problem: White rot fungi. “[The process of striping lignin barriers] usually involves many expensive chemical pretreatments, so I tried to keep things as low key as possible,” Li said. White rot fungi degrades the lignin barriers of switchgrass plant, exposing their cellulose centers, which in turn can be used to make biofuels.

Li’s project was not only successful, but highly ethical. “I was looking for the most environmentally friendly way of doing things. Making biofuels from switchgrass is actually carbon negative ,and since everything around us is so carbon positive, it’s good to have something which can help mitigate the effects of climate change,” she said.

Her Advanced Science Research course required her to seek external resources for the execution of her project. She emailed half a dozen professors working in the field of her topic until one responded. She met Dr. Jonathan Schilling who works in the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering at the University of Minnesota.

“I actually surprised him with my visit. He surprised me back with giving me the space in his lab to work on my project and a graduate research mentor. I thought that was just incredible,” Li said.

She continued her research at the U of M, performing enough tests and refining her process to write an extended lab report beyond the scope of her Advanced Science Research Course. Li’s investigations had come such a long way that she figured she might have a shot at gaining recognition in the Intel Science Talent Search.

“I thought, I might as well apply. I already had everything pretty much done. I just had to rearrange and add in some stuff,” she said. The application process ended up taking Li a very long time and she jokingly mentioned that it was longer than any college application she had ever completed. “You have your research report (anywhere upwards of 20 pages), recommendations, transcript, test scores, and supplemental essays,” Li said.

On Jan. 8, Li got notice of her advancement to the semifinalist stage of the Intel competition along with 2,000 dollars, one half of which has gone to St. Paul Academy and Summit School. Out of thousands of annual applications, only 300 semifinalists are chosen to move on in the competition, undoubtedly a feat for Li. “There are high schoolers who already have patents and papers published, so being a semifinalist at this point is still pretty amazing to me,” Li noted.

Li did not move to the finalists stage; however, she intends to pursue her interest in the sciences and mathematics in college and encourages others to believe in their own abilities to engage with the “hard sciences.” “Even if you’re just starting out, it doesn’t mean you’re going to be at the bottom of the pack,” she said. “Just because you’re a high schooler doesn’t mean you can’t do something revolutionary or make a break-through discovery.”