​GUILDERLAND — Michelle Prunier, 16, of Guilderland, always has a list of words in the back of her mind that she is curious about and means to look up sometime. Not all of them are related to science, she says, although many of them are.

One such word was “petrichor.” When she did look it up, she learned that it meant “the smell of rain,” which she says is “one of my favorite smells, actually.”

She read some articles on the subject. It turns out that ozone in raindrops, bacteria in soil, and volatile plant oils all contribute to the earthy smell of rain.

Not long afterward, when she was looking for a topic for a contest that merged science and graphic design, she remembered petrichor and thought that it might be good.

She realized that people might not be aware of what causes the smell of rain and thought, “If I learned about it for the first time recently, maybe others would be interested in it too.”

She created her entry using the graphic design software Canva.

Prunier was named one of three nationwide winners of the infographic contest sponsored by the American Chemical Society.

Her entry, and the two other winners, will be featured in an upcoming issue of ChemMatters magazine and on the American Chemical Society’s website.