A unique discovery made by a teen may help in reducing ocean waste by cleaning up microplastics that too with coconut fungi! This discovery was made by a high school student from East Honolulu, and her finding won multiple awards at the Hawaiʻi State Science & Engineering Fair. Here’s all you need to know about this discovery and how it can help in reducing waste from the oceans.The discoveryWhen high school senior Vera Wang set out to tackle ocean pollution near her home in East Honolulu, she started with a problem every Hawaiian swimmer knows well: the slick layer of chemical sunscreen floating on the water’s surface, tangled up with bits of floating microplastics. What she didn’t expect was that the key to catching and destroying those pollutants was sitting right in a coconut grove. The Kaiser High School senior’s journey began during her sophomore year, when she decided to build a sustainable surface water filter. Drawing inspiration from traditional Polynesian weaving techniques, Wang constructed her filter entirely out of coconut byproduct waste. It worked surprisingly well at scooping up microplastics and chemical residues from the water. However, pulling trash out of the sea brought her face-to-face with an even bigger hurdle: what do you actually do with toxic pollutants once you’ve collected them?Turning waste into a microscopic powerhouseLeaving plastic and chemical waste in a landfill just moves the contamination somewhere else. Wang realized she needed a way to break the pollutants down entirely, and the material she was already using held the secret. “I learned that the pore structure of coconut fiber supports the movement of air and water, which can create a favorable environment for microbes,” Wang said. “That led me to wonder whether coconut husk could do more than physically capture pollutants.”To test her theory, she joined Dr. Anthony Amend’s lab at the Pacific Biosciences Research Center at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Working alongside marine biology graduate student Kaylee Christensen, Wang began exploring the hidden microbial ecosystems thriving inside raw coconut husks.Her instincts were spot on. The research team discovered that fungi naturally living on the coconut fibers possessed the rare ability to biodegrade—or break down—both sunscreen compounds and plastic material.Even more intriguing, the lab found that natural tannin compounds within the coconut husks appeared to act as a fuel source, stimulating and encouraging the growth of these specialized, pollution-eating microbes.Discovering species that are new to scienceThe project took an even bigger leap forward when the team ran genetic sequencing on the fungal strains Wang isolated. When they cross-referenced the DNA with the world’s largest global genetic database, several strains didn’t match a single recorded organism. Wang hadn’t just found a green method for cleaning the ocean; she had likely uncovered previously uncharacterized fungal species. Her work swept top honors at the Hawaiʻi State Science & Engineering Fair, taking 1st place in the Microbiology category and earning a scholarship award from the McInerny Foundation. The victory secured her a spot at the International Science & Engineering Fair in Arizona.A bright future for ocean scienceFor Wang, the journey from weaving husks in her spare time to working in a university lab has been a life-changing experience. “My research would have never, ever been possible without Anthony and Kaylee,” she shared. “This project has been part of a much longer journey, so having it recognized feels both surreal and deeply rewarding. ” Her mentors see her accomplishment as a sign of what happens when young people are given the tools to solve real-world problems. “This work was made possible because of Vera’s vision, and it gives me such optimism about the future of science in Hawaiʻi,” Amend said. “Her success is a testament to our public school system, which is doing a wonderful job supporting and training our next generation of students. I can’t wait to see what discoveries she makes in college.”What is your take on this rare discovery?
