News As Judges for High School Water Competition, MIT Water Club Members Inspired by Next Generation of Water Sector Scientists

Andi Sutton, Communications and Program Manager J-WAFS August 5, 2019

In June, Anselmo Cassiano, an MIT research affiliate in water and climate change, traveled to Ohio State University to serve on a panel of judges for a high school science competition. Anselmo was one of two members of the MIT Water Club to attend as judges this year. The second was Samantha McBride, a PhD candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

This was not just any science competition, though. “You go there to judge, but then you discover that you are learning much more. It’s priceless,” Anselmo commented. The competition involved passionate high school students representing 45 states and Puerto Rico gathered to present original water sector research, competing for the US title of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP). SJWP is the world’s most prestigious award for youth-led water-related research. It is an international prize, and the US finalist joins over 30 other country finalists at the international competition, where the princess of Sweden awards a $15,000 prize to the winner. Held at World Water Week in Stockholm at the end of August, itwas founded in 1997 by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) to cultivate a future generation of global water sector leaders.

This was the second year that Anselmo and Sam judged the event. The judging panel included water specialists from industry as well as academia, and served as an important networking opportunity for both the high school competitors and the Water Club members. “It’s a fun opportunity to learn about different fields of water research, and interact with people in industry and at other schools,” commented Samantha. These interactions have already borne fruit: after meeting Jeanette Browne, the former director of the Water Environment Federation and research assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Manhattan College, at SJWP last year, Anselmo invited her to MIT to share her knowledge at an MIT Water Club event in 2019.

Both Sam and Anselmo commented that their interactions with students were the true highlight, however. As judges, they were tasked with reading student papers, reviewing student-produced videos about the research, and interviewing student competitors during the in-person poster session at Ohio State before coming to an agreement about the winning projects. Student competitors presented innovative solutions-driven research on a variety of topics, from wastewater treatment, to water filtration strategies, nutrient runoff solutions, and addressing microfibers in the water system, among others.

Reflecting on the experience, Sam commented: “it’s inspiring to learn about what the students are working on and see how inspired they are about science.” In fact, one of the student competitors happened to be working on a topic that Sam is focusing on for her PhD research. “I am definitely going to follow up with her,” she said. “It was cool hearing her talk about Zan der Waals Interaction [an intermolecular chemical reaction that Sam is drawing on in her work] in her presentation. I didn’t know that when I was in high school!”

Read more about the prize, including the 2019 winners, here.