News at Buckley

Mason L. and Jasper C. Win Award at LA Science & Engineering Fair

Two years ago, eleventh grade students Mason L. and Jasper C. began to explore how methane was affecting our planet.
Between ninth and tenth grade, they studied  oxygen and carbon dioxide fixation through methanotrophs, microbes that break down methane. They hypothesized that they could use the methanotrophs to pick up and subsequently reduce the volume of methane from the oceans, helping the environment.

The two students took the initiative to go to the dump and isolated certain spots with methanotroph cultures. After determining methanotrophs were present in their cultures, they grew them in a methane-rich environment and evaluated how efficiently they broke down methane. Now, they have engineered a device containing these microbes to filter out methane from the ocean.

Over spring break, Mason and Jasper won an award at the LA Science & Engineering Fair, as well as an award from the California Water Environment Association and the Stockholm Junior Water Prize Environment Federations.

Their next steps are to patent the device, which will likely involve further cultivation and possible mutation of the microbes, and to compete at the California Stockholm Junior Water Price competition.

Congratulations, students!
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