On March 29, Northport High School senior, James Connor, was selected as one of the finalists in the regional Long Island Science and Engineering Fair (LISEF)! 

For his award-winning computer science project titled “Attributing State-backed Information Operations on Twitter through Machine Learning”, James designed an algorithm to associate disinformation posted on Twitter with those individuals responsible for the tweet. “While the utilization of disinformation by individuals is harmful, the tactic is worse when adopted by foreign nations who seek to influence politics, finances, or ideological beliefs around the world”, James stated in his paper. Despite the prevalence of state-backed disinformation campaigns, known as information operations, there remains little means for efficiently attributing an operation to the responsible nation-state. The result of James’ project was a model capable of attributing individual tweets from an information operation with an accuracy of approximately 92%.   

Additionally, Mr. Connor has received The Office of Naval Research Naval Science Award at the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair, which includes a monetary prize.

James and the other finalists from around the world will compete in the virtual 2021 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). Judging will take place from May 3-6, 2021 via video conferencing. Official Regeneron ISEF events will take place May 16-21, featuring distinguished panels, the Finalist Exhibit Hall, a Career Hall, the ISEF College Fair and a STEM Experiential Hall.