BANGOR, Maine — On a Thursday afternoon in late November, Noelle Killarney has driven straight to the Bangor City Forest after her last high school class of the day. The air is brisk, and the sky is gloomy -- and she is on a mission before this season's abnormally early night.
Walking down a dirt path to 'Bog Brook', Killarney carries three mason jars in her pockets, clanging together as she makes her way to a small stream of water, surrounded by dry brush and moss. This is where she carefully unscrews the top of each container and, with a scientist's careful touch, starts to collect specimens.
"What we’re collecting are aquatic and moss plant samples in which tardigrades can most likely be found," Killarney, a senior at John Bapst Memorial High School, explained to NEWS CENTER Maine. Earlier this year, she and her mentor discovered a new species of tardigrade, a micro-animal, in the Bangor City Forest. Now, she's going down in the science world history at just 17 years old. The Maine Science Festival asked Mainers to take part in naming the new species, and they chose to name it Dacatylobiotus killarneyorum after Killarney -- something that, though she's shy, Killarney says she's excited about.
Her work hasn't ended, though. Killarney is collecting tardigrade samples every two weeks from the Bangor City Forest until the water where they live freezes over. The mission is to determine how the micro-animal survived this summer's drought -- and how they may come back as a population post-winter.
"I find them really important to study, just because they're so good at surviving," Killarney expressed.
She's had a passion for marine biology for years and accredits it to spending a lot of time on the water as a child. She says most of her family lives on a native reservation in eastern Maine right near the ocean -- and they would often take out a boat and see wildlife nearly at their fingertips.
Kate Dickerson, the founder and director of the Maine Science Festival, says seeing young people like Killarney so invested in the world around them is the purpose of her job.
"The idea that they could kind of go out in the City Forest and say, 'Oh' look! There might be something new here,' and then find it -- I think it's exactly what science is about," Dickerson smiled while chatting with NEWS CENTER Maine via Zoom.
As Noelle's mentor, Dr. Emma Perry, a microscope facility lab manager at the University of Maine at Orono, says she was pleased she could take part in that journey with Noelle.
"Science is, for me -- it's curiosity," Perry told NEWS CENTER Maine via Zoom. "I can't imagine walking through anywhere, including the Bangor City Forest, without sort of asking questions."
Perry is continuing her role in helping Killarney by inviting her to use her science equipment at home after collecting samples -- a safer option during the coronavirus pandemic than meeting at the University of Maine. From there, Killarney spends about an hour per sample scanning them under the microscope and counting the tardigrades. She then uses a loop smaller than the head of a pin to scoop them out and put them on a slide.
Perry says the next step in this project is to write up a manuscript for their science peers about the discovery of this new species. Killarney says she hopes the project will serve as an example for other young people.
"Maybe it will encourage other students -- other high school students or middle school students -- to go out and get more involved," Killarney expressed.
The five-day, in-person Maine Science Festival has been canceled this spring of the COVID-19, but Dickerson says they are still hoping to host online forums near March and continue conversations and projects about science. She says they are also planning to promote the new species with t-shirts. You can find more information once it becomes available here.