Meet Morgan Barnes, Florida’s 2021 Stockholm Junior Water Prize Winner—

Shea Dunifon

On August 24 during World Water Week, the Stockholm International Water Institute announced the 2021 recipient of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP), Eshani Jha of California. Thirty-two countries and 44 participants from around the globe competed for the coveted international title and a chance to be recognized as an innovator in the water sector.

In the United States, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) received 235 entries, including Morgan Barnes, a student at the Canterbury School in Fort Myers. Morgan, a junior, won the Florida Stockholm Junior Water Prize for her research titled, “Analyzing In-Situ Environmental Impacts on Long-Term Durability, Cohesivity, and Viability Sodium Alginate Immobilized Chlorella vulgaris Bioremediation Units.”

As both an innovator and an inspiration (and a rare native Floridian), I decided to interview her and share her story.

Shea: What is one interesting fact or thing that you would like to share about yourself?

Morgan: Although this is not research-related, I would say the most interesting thing about me is that I rodeo. I started competing when I was 7 years old and now I have been fortunate enough to travel across the United States and compete at some of the largest rodeos in the nation. Although this sport requires a lot of hard work and dedication, it’s something that I truly enjoy doing and is really rewarding.

As someone who got into gardening at a young

Above: Morgan conducting research at the Canterbury Independent Science Research Laboratory.

At right: Displaying her medal as the 2021 Florida state winner of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize competition.

age because my mom and my grandmother were both really into it, I’m just curious what got you started in rodeo?

Both my parents grew up in the city; our family friends, however, had a farm and their son used to bull ride. They invited us to watch one of his competitions and I remember seeing all these cowgirls and cowboys on horses and I just looked at my mom and said “I really want to do this one day!” My mom kind of laughed and said “Okay.” She took me out to our family friends’ farm and I got on a horse and I fell in love with the sport. My mom was like “Well, this is going to be quite an expensive hobby, but we’ll do it.” It honestly was such a great opportunity that I was given, merely by chance.

That’s very cool. Do you plan to do rodeo after high school?

I’m in high school right now and I am able to compete at that level, but I want to go to an elite university so I will not be able to do it in college because of studying and research. These are two things I take seriously in a career option, but maybe later in life I would like to pick it back up again.

Have you chosen a university and what are you thinking about in terms of a career?

There are a couple of universities in Florida that I would like to attend; for example, the University of Florida for research. I would also really like to attend an elite university, like an Ivy League school. I want to continue pursuing a career in research and develop my invention that I am focusing on right now in this study.

Other than rodeo, do you have any other interesting or relevant factoids you’d like to share with our readers?

Besides rodeo I also play in my school’s jazz band and wind ensemble. I play a variety of instruments, but my favorites are clarinet and bass so that’s another thing I do in my free time.

You sound really busy; what’s your secret?

It’s definitely a challenge balancing everything. I had to narrow my focus to three things, which are research, rodeo, and music.

I like that. I almost feel like that’s your bumper sticker: Research, Rodeo, and. . . too bad music doesn’t start with an “r” (to be continued).

I know (laughter).

Enough alliteration. Let’s talk a little bit about your research project. How did that start?

I’ve been doing research since 5th grade; however, I didn’t start doing water-related studies until 8th grade. I’ve always been fond of recreation, and especially fishing, since I grew up in Florida—there are beaches everywhere. In 2018, harmful algal blooms began to plague Florida’s waterways and there were a lot of externalities that came from these harmful algal blooms. I wasn’t able to do my activities, so out of curiosity, I started researching ways to help return Florida’s water back to natural nutrient levels where there were no harmful algal blooms. Upon my research, I didn’t find any cost-effective or long-term solutions; in fact, there weren’t any readily available solutions at the time. In 8th grade I started working on a project where I could focus on bioremediation and help control nutrient runoff in Florida’s waterways.

Before we move on, should we add fishing to your list of things you do?

Yes! Oh, that’s another thing I like to do (laughing); I do go fishing a lot. My dad really liked it, so growing up I always went out on the boat and went fishing with him. It’s another hobby of mine.

Reading the title of your research, it’s impressive. Are you doing your research in collaboration with a university?

I’m not. I’m currently working with the research department at my school and I’m working with the head of the department, Kelly Percivall. I have not been affiliated with any other universities for research.

It’s a very impressive title.

My sister and I have a competition between us every year to see who can come up with the longest-sounding titles for science fairs.

(Laughing) Did you do a science fair project this year?

I did! I competed at my school fair and I was selected to go to the regional competition. From there I got invited to compete at both the state and then the international levels. I was extremely fortunate to receive fourth place at the International Science and Engineering Fair, which was quite a shock to me because the sheer volume at that fair is absolutely huge! It was a great experience to go and meet people from all across the country.

Congratulations! Did you hear about SJWP from participating in any of those fairs?

Last year at my regional fair, I was awarded an invitation to participate in SJWP and at the time I wasn’t too familiar with the award, but I did research it when I got home. It was quite an honor to receive that award and I wish that more people knew about it; at my school, I try to inform people about SJWP in general because it’s not something a lot of people are aware of. People should know about SJWP—look at the water movement and how it’s progressed over the years! Because I received an award at SJWP, I was able to submit my project to compete at the state level and I was selected as the 2021 winner.

To all the aspiring middle school and/or high school scientists out there, what advice would you like to give them?

My first piece of advice would be to persevere when things go awry. There are a lot of times, in my own personal experience of research, where things do not always go as planned. It can be really frustrating at times when you’ve worked a lot of hours on a project and the data is just not coming together in order to find what you’re looking for. Through my time at research, I’ve learned that it’s important to always take every disaster as an opportunity to learn from it.

I would say my second piece of advice is to get out of your comfort zone when it comes to research. It’s okay to go in a different direction that other scientists hadn’t necessarily thought of before—that’s what makes your project novel and exciting to learn about. It’s okay to do something that’s different than what everyone else is doing. Those would be my two main pieces of advice to younger generations.

Standing in a freshwater retention pond while testing her invention in in-situ environments.

I’m just curious—you mentioned that you and your sister like to create long research titles; is your sister doing similar research?

Yes; she’s my twin sister, which is totally fun. It’s not only fun to compete against each other, but also against ourselves, so it’s great to have someone there pushing you. She also competes in research, but she does not do earth and environmental sciences—she likes to focus on biomedical sciences. She works with trying to help paraplegics walk again and regenerate the spinal cord, which is really interesting research.

I can’t resist—is she also doing rodeo?

She also does rodeo (laughing). Yes, it’s great to have someone there every step of the way. We both have our own things. For example, mine is music and she’s a really amazing artist and athlete. She’s won a couple of medals at the state track and field championship so it’s very cool that we both have our own outlets, too.

Back to your research. With the research that you submitted for SJWP this year, what is the next step? Are you going to continue with this? Are there any new questions or are you going to move on to something else?

I’ve been working on this project for three years now, but I want to stick with this project until I graduate high school. Next year I am going to work on an apparatus in which to put the finalized bioremediation units I’ve constructed, and in my senior year I am going to work on Continued on page 50

Continued from page 49 reincorporating those bioremediation units I created in the soil back into the environment. To incorporate a soil additive without utilizing fertilizers is where I am going with this in the future.

My long-term goal is, I would love to not only get this invention patented, but also see it on a large-scale application. I’d like to put the immobilized media I created in the different outflow centers of Lake Okeechobee and the Caloosahatchee River. I definitely want to continue working on this project and see it through because I always like to finish what I start.

I feel like you’re already a part of the water sector, like you work here.

I would love to continue working on this in the future because water is something that I am very interested in. I think that a lot more people, especially young people in our generation, need to start focusing on a way to fix and reverse the ecological footprints that we’ve introduced. I feel like we have the opportunity to make a difference, so I would definitely love to continue pursuing a career in water sciences, even if later in life, I would be working on patenting my invention on the side.

I have to admit, I had no idea what I wanted to be in high school, so I think you’re admirable. I also think you have a really bright future in the environmental sciences and a natural curiosity that is beneficial to the water sector. Whatever you decide to do, there are a lot of options if you do decide to stay in water and do research. It’s always evolving!

That’s what why I’m so in love with the science, because there’s so many ways you can go with each experiment, like this one for example. I’ve been working on it for three years and I’m still not done with it, yet I just keep finding more and more things to incorporate into the design of it, which is what is really awesome. That is probably one of the things I like the most about research.

How did research work out for you during COVID-19? Were you able to go to the school at certain times or were you doing everything remotely?

I wanted to go work in a research laboratory; however, due to the pandemic I wasn’t able to work there. My school did allow for in-person learning if you socially distanced and wore a mask at all times, so I was able to go into my school’s research facility. Luckily for me, I did most of my project outside in the fresh water retention pond at my school, so I was able to go outside, not wear a mask, and do my research with everything being pretty much normal. When I was working in the laboratory, however, there were a lot of restrictions and guidelines we had to follow due to the pandemic, so it affected my research slightly.

And online research competitions? I can’t say I’ve ever participated in one; what was that like?

It was a challenging year for sure. Research competitions were quite tough to do online. The regional- and state-level competitions were definitely challenging to do because they were on Zoom, but it was still a great experience either way.

Time for my last question. As someone who has participated in science fairs, would you say that it’s been a positive experience and have you ever received good research or career advice at a fair?

Yes, some of the judges I have had the pleasure of talking to in the past were generous with giving me certain tips and tricks here and there. A couple of them have even given me advice like “Have you considered this option?” and others gave the general skepticism of science. Having others question your research definitely helps you understand the process a lot better. Talking to people and networking has really influenced me as a researcher and it’s made my project a lot better because I was able to answer the judges’ questions and see what I needed to improve on in my research.

And with that, Morgan Barnes: Research, Rodeo, and Rhythm. Welcome to the water family!

Runners-Up and Judges

The FWEA Public Communications and Outreach Committee (PCOC) would also like to recognize the 2021 SJWP runners-up: S Aiden Vance, Second place S Olivia Williams, Third place

And last but not least, a special thank-you to all of our 2021 judges: S Julie Karleskint, Hazen and Sawyer S Tim Madhanagopal, Constantine

Engineering S Zachary Loeb, Clay County Utilities S Bina Nayak, Pinellas County Utilities S Maraida Balaguer-Barbosa, Arcadis S Stephanie Paredes, AECOM S Michael Demko, Wade Trim S Julianne LaRock, South Florida Water

Management District S Cristina Gauthier, South Florida Water

Management District

The PCOC would like to thank Arpita Meher of Arcadis for serving as the SJWP Florida state coordinator for the past two years. Next year, we look forward to welcoming Zachary Loeb (Florida SJWP 2013 and 2014 winner) as our new coordinator and Arpita as the incoming chair of PCOC.

Shea Dunifon is the education coordinator at Pinellas County Utilities South Cross Bayou Advanced Water Reclamation Facility in St. Petersburg and is chair of the FWEA Public Communications and Outreach Committee. S