U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize Winner Announced

Swarna Muthukrishnan, COA’s Water Quality Research Director, was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation by Water Environment Federation (WEF) and Xylem, Inc. for her role serving as a National Judge at the U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) Competition held at Colorado School of Mines in June 2023! The U.S. SJWP was founded in 1997 by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) to complement the Stockholm Water Prize. 

The SJWP, conducted annually, is the world's most prestigious award presented to a high school student for a water-research project. The National Winner represents the country at the International Competition held in Stockholm in August. Naomi Park of Greenwich, CT, was named the 2023 national winner for her research on using Styrofoam debris collected from the ocean as a filter to reduce ocean carbon levels! 

Photo Credit: Water Environment Federation

SJWP National Winner 2023,
Naomi Park

This year’s competition has local relevance as COA has been spearheading grassroots campaigns in water quality and plastic issues for more than three decades. COA is encouraged as youth make waves to tackle these impacts, such as Grace Leavitt, a high school student from Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science (MATES), New Jersey. The SJWP offers two additional awards: (i) Bjorn von Euler Innovation in Water Scholarship and (ii) James L. Condon Recognition for Environmental Stewardship. Grace received the James L. Condon Recognition for Environmental Stewardship for work in developing a bioplastic alternative to single-use plastics. Swarna looks forward to future SJWP competitions to continue lifting youth innovation in water quality research! Learn more at: https://www.wef.org/Publications/News/WEF-Press-Releases/Park-Wins-U.S.-Stockholm-Junior-Water-Prize/