Since the age of 10, I have been trying to solve local environmental issues through science fair projects after an environmental documentary ignited my zeal for environmentalism. At the age of 16, this passion led me to design bioreactors capable of biodegrading naphthenic acids – the most difficult water pollution in oil sands tailings ponds in my province. After years of troubleshooting bioreactor designs, I found that the indigenous bacteria were capable of degrading these toxic pollutants 14X faster. A full-scale implementation of my results could potentially clean up the pollution in decades instead of centuries. For these amazing findings, I was honoured to win the 2014 Google Science Fair senior category, the 2014 International Stockholm Junior Water Prize, and Canada’s Top 20 Under 20 Award. By speaking at public science fairs and youth conferences, I have been able to encourage progress towards tailings bioremediation and inspire peers with my passion for environmentalism.
