A student from Canada has received the prestigious 2022 Stockholm Junior Water Prize for her research on how to treat and prevent harmful algae ...
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, the official patron of the prize, announced the winner during a ceremony at World Water Week in Stockholm. World Water Week is a conference on global water issues, which started on August 23, 2022 and will go on till September 1.
Stockholm Junior Water is an international competition where students aged 15 to 20 years present solutions to major water challenges.
Harmful algae bloom plague aquatic ecosystems around the world. They impact water quality and ecosystem diversity, cause dead zones and cost the fishing and tourism industries millions of dollars.
Annabelle M Rayson’s father, a commercial fisherman, could no longer fish in certain areas due to harmful algae blooms, leading to her research into treating and preventing harmful algae blooms.
The Canadian student learned the concept of biomanipulation and which species of zooplankton was best to treat and prevent algae blooms.
“It’s an absolute honour to be here with so many other brilliant young people, representing all the small-town little girls out there, dreaming of her with a microscope and lab coat. Hey girls, we can still make it,” Rayson said on winning the award.
The winning entry has a potential solution for a multi-faceted global problem, the jury had noted.
The Diploma of Excellence was awarded to Laura Nedel Drebes and Camily Pereira dos Santos from Brazil for their development of addressing the issue of period poverty — the inaccessibility to sanitary pads. The two developed sustainable and affordable sanitary pads from industrial by-products.
The People’s Choice Award went to Mishal Faraz from the United Arab Emirates, completing the all-female line-up of winners.
The Stockholm Junior Water Prize has been organised every year since 1997 by the Stockholm International Water Institute, with Xylem, an American water technology provider, as a founding partner.
Media
Taxonomy
- Algae
- Algae Treatment
- Algal Blooms
- Hazardous Algae Blooms