High School Student accepts award from HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden
What began by participating in a research program during her high school freshman year, ended in Sweden with American Naomi Park receiving the top award of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize 2023. Naomi won the Award based on her research on the removal of carbon dioxide and oil products from the ocean.
HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden presented the winner with her award during a ceremony at World Water Week in Stockholm. The international competition is open to students between the ages of 15 and 20 who present their solutions to major water challenges. It has been run since 1997 by the Stockholm International Water Institute, SIWI, with Xylem as Founding Partner.
The basis of Naomi’s research is the ocean’s absorption of nearly a third of airborne carbon dioxide emissions, and 1.3 million gallons of crude oil being spilled into oceans every year. Each is harmful to marine biodiversity and human health and both can potentially be addressed by Naomi’s innovative approach that simultaneously removes these contaminants.
“The winner is taking a troublesome waste product and using it to help solve a number of the most pressing issues we face in the modern world. By using Styrofoam and creating a ‘sponge’ that absorbs both carbon dioxide and oil products from the ocean, this student built a model and tested it – in multiple conditions, even simulating ocean waves – with impressive results,” provided as a collective statement of the contest’s jury.
Naomi attends Greenwich High School in Riverside, Connecticut. Speaking on winning the prize, Park stated, “I did this project in my high school. I joined our research program as a freshman. It is just something that I wanted to do for fun. I never realized that I would get to this point. It is very much a shock right now.”
