A SCHOOLGIRL from West Dorset has shot to scientific stardom for her work with a watercress compound - hailed as a possible therapy for cancer.

Georgia Connolly, 18, will have the eyes of the world on her when she spends a week as guest of the Swedish Royal family before attending the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony and a glittering ball in December.

Her fame comes after she won a prestigious science competition against nearly 30,000 other entries nationwide.

Georgia took the British Association CREST Science Fair title in London for work which began when she won a Nuffield bursary placement last summer to Winfrith's Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

She then investigated the use of watercress to assess water quality in a project which also focused on a compound in watercress which is hoped to be used in cancer therapies.

This research won her a place in the CREST finals and a prize ceremony at the Royal Society in London.

Miss Connolly, of Morcombelake, near Bridport, is finishing her A-level studies in biology, physics, chemistry and music at St Mary's School, Shaftesbury.

She said: "They announced the winners in reverse order and I just could not believe my ears when my name was called. I was just absolutely astonished.

"It still hasn't sunk in yet."

She said her artist mother Lynda - who drove 70 miles each day to take Georgia to and from Winfrith - was just as surprised and was 'very pleased'.

Miss Connolly's thoughts are concentrated on forthcoming A-level exams this summer with the University of Bristol and London's Imperial College both offering her places to read medicine towards her efforts to become a doctor.

She still had time to think of her forthcoming Royal visit to Sweden.

Miss Connolly said: "It is very exciting. I have got to go and look for a dress and my mother will help me with that."

Her award-winning project at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology - which is being shut down in three months' time because of a Government cost-cutting exercise - was overseen by environmental chemist Andrew Worgan.

He said: "Georgia was absolutely excellent. She was as good as a post-masters degree student studying for a doctorate.

"Her work involved developing methods of extracting a difficult-to-handle chemical from river water. The chemical originates in the water where watercress is cut and is the thing which gives watercress its peppery flavour.

"This chemical could be a possible therapy for cancer but has never been found in river water before, so Georgia's work pioneered how that chemical could be identified and isolated in river water.

"I think it is a phenomenal achievement and she deserves everything she has been given and more. She is an excellent student and I wish her well."

Georgia's CREST prize also included £1,500, a gold trophy and an iPod.

She will be accompanied at the Nobel ceremony by winners representing 24 other countries from around the globe.

St Mary's head Richard James said: "We are very, very proud of Georgia's success and it reflects on her great talent, dedication and hard work at St Mary's. It's a great credit to our science department too."