Wa g’s
wo k,
do e
i
the
lab
of
A tho y
Ame d
at
the
U ive sity
of
Hawaiʻi
at
Mā oa,
was
ecog ized
at
the
2026
Hawaiʻi
State
Scie ce
&
E gi ee i g
Fai
What
sta ted
as
a
high
school
p oject
to
clea
polluted
ocea
wate
has
tu ed
i to
a
p omisi g
scie tific
discove y.
Hawaii’s
Kaise
High
School
se io
Ve a
Wa g
was
the
fi st
to
look
i to
usi g
coco ut
waste
to
filte
mic oplastics
a d
su sc ee
f om
seawate ,
states
a
ews
epo t
by
U ive sity
of
Hawai’i
News.
Two
yea s
late ,
he
esea ch
has
take
a
i te esti g
tu ,
with
atu ally
occu i g
fu gi
i
coco ut
husks
that
ca
b eak
dow
plastic
a d
su sc ee .
Wa g’s
wo k,
do e
i
the
lab
of
A tho y
Ame d
at
the
U ive sity
of
Hawaiʻi
at
Mā oa,
was
ecog ized
at
the
2026
Hawaiʻi
State
Scie ce
&
E gi ee i g
Fai
a d
could
lead
to
ew
ways
to
tackle
some
of
the
most
stubbo
polluta ts
plagui g
ma i e
e vi o me ts,
adds
the
epo t.
Sc oll
dow
to
ead
the
details
of
i ovatio .
A
ew
scie tific
questio
f om
a
coco ut-based
filte
I
the
10th
g ade
of
schooli g,
Wa g
bega
the
p oject,
developi g
a
ocea
filte
that
took
i spi atio
f om
Poly esia
weavi g
t aditio s.
The
filte
used
coco ut
byp oducts
to
emove
mic oplastics
a d
su sc ee
f om
the
su face
wate .
The
idea
coupled
t aditio al
k owledge
with
mode
e vi o me tal
scie ce.
Coco ut
fibe s
p ovided
a
atu al
mate ial
that
could
physically
t ap
polluta ts,
as
well
as
a
ag icultu al
by-p oduct
that
would
othe wise
go
to
waste.
But,
Wa g
soo
ealized
that
filte i g
polluta ts
out
of
the
wate
was
o ly
pa t
of
the
p oblem.
O ce
plastic
pa ticles
a d
su sc ee
compou ds
a e
t apped,
they
still
eed
to
be
espo sibly
disposed
of.
That
questio
se t
he
esea ch
i
a
whole
ew
di ectio .
Why
the
atte tio
to
coco ut
husks?
He
esea ch
looked
at
thei
ability
to
g ow
with
su sc ee
a d
plastic
a d
possibly
b eak
dow
those
mate ials.
Acco di g
to
the
epo t,
Wa g
fou d
that
coco ut
fibe
has
a
po ous
st uctu e
that
allows
ai
a d
wate
to
move
th ough
the
mate ial.
Such
a
e vi o me t
ca
sustai
mic obial
commu ities.
This
made
he
wo de
if
coco ut
husks
could
do
mo e
tha
just
t ap
the
polluta ts.
Maybe
the
mic obes
livi g
i side
them
could
also
help
b eak
dow
some
of
the
stuff
that’s
bei g
captu ed.I
the
lab
of
Ame d,
Wa g
sta ted
to
explo e
the
atu ally
occu i g
fu gal
commu ities
i
coco ut
husks.
He
esea ch
looked
at
thei
ability
to
g ow
with
su sc ee
a d
plastic
a d
possibly
b eak
dow
those
mate ials.
Also,
it
effectively
co ected
two
phases
of
e vi o me tal
clea up:
captu i g
polluta ts
a d
fi di g
biological
ways
to
deg ade
them.
Fu gi
that
ca
deg ade
plastic
a d
su sc ee
The
most
i te esti g
pa t
is
that
the
study
showed
how
atu ally-occu i g
fu gi
o
coco ut
husks
ca
biodeg ade
su sc ee
a d
plastic.
Fo
the
u i itiated,
biodeg adatio
is
the
chemical
b eakdow
of
mate ials
i to
simple
substa ces
by
mic o-o ga isms.The
fi di g
is
especially
i te esti g
si ce
plastic
pollutio
is
oto iously
difficult
to
co t ol.
T aditio al
methods
ofte
i clude
the
collectio ,
t a spo tatio
a d
p ocessi g
of
plastic
waste.
Su sc ee
compou ds
that
e te
ma i e
e vi o me ts
ca
also
be
difficult
to
emove
o ce
they
dispe se
th u
the
wate .
The efo e,
the
isolatio
of
atu ally
occu i g
fu gi
able
to
deg ade
these
polluta ts
may
p ovide
i te esti g
i fo matio
fo
futu e
e vi o me tal
esea ch.Resea che s
also
discove ed
that
a
compou d
i
ta i s
could
be
used
to
ide tify
the
fu gi
that
ca
b eak
dow
su sc ee
a d
plastic.
“The
ta i s
i
coco ut
fibe s
may
be
helpi g
to
suppo t
the
g owth
of
these
specialized
fu gi,”
said
Kaylee
Ch iste se ,
a
g aduate
stude t
i
the
Ma i e
Biology
G aduate
P og am
who
wo ked
closely
with
Wa g.
A
pote tial
ew
fu gal
discove y
Fu the
esea ch
is
eeded
to
dete mi e
exactly
what
these
fu gi
a e,
how
they
b eak
dow
polluta ts,
a d
whethe
thei
powe s
might
o e
day
be
ha essed
outside
of
the
lab.
If
epo ts
a e
to
be
believed,
o e
of
the
most
i te esti g
pa ts
of
Wa g’s
esea ch
might
have
bee
the
ge etic
testi g.
Some
fu gal
species
ide tified
i
the
coco ut
husks
we e
ot
fou d
i
the
wo ld’s
la gest
efe e ce
database
of
k ow
ge es
a d
ge omes.
This
suggests
some
of
the
o ga isms
may
be
p eviously
u cha acte ised
species.This
fi di g
adds
a
ext a
dime sio
to
the
p oject.
What
bega
as
a
study
of
a
atu ally
occu i g
filt atio
mate ial
has
also
become
a
study
of
the
la gely
u see
mic obial
commu ities
dwelli g
withi
coco ut
husks.Howeve ,
fu the
esea ch
is
eeded
to
dete mi e
exactly
what
these
fu gi
a e,
how
they
b eak
dow
polluta ts,
a d
whethe
thei
powe s
might
o e
day
be
ha essed
outside
of
the
lab.
Awa ds
at
the
Hawaiʻi
State
Scie ce
&
E gi ee i g
Fai
The
p oud
mome t
have
bee
whe
Wa g’s
wo k
wo
awa ds
at
the
2026
Hawaiʻi
State
Scie ce
&
E gi ee i g
Fai .
He
p oject
was
awa ded
fi st
place
Best
i
Catego y
fo
Mic obiology
a d
thi d
place
Best
i
Fai .She
was
p ese ted
with
a
special
awa d
by
the
F ie ds
of
Ha auma
Bay,
was
give
a othe
awa d
by
the
Associatio
fo
Wome
Geoscie tists
a d
eceived
a
schola ship
awa d
f om
the
McI e y
Fou datio .
He
p oject
also
ea ed
he
a
spot
at
the
I te atio al
Scie ce
&
E gi ee i g
Fai .
The
ecog itio
highlights
ot
just
the
scie tific
p omise
of
he
esea ch,
but
the
oppo tu ities
available
to
stude ts
who
wa t
to
take
o
the
e vi o me tal
issues
th u
ha ds-o
expe ime tatio .
A
simple
thought
that
spa ked
a
cha ge
Wa g’s
p oject
illust ates
the
way
o e
scie tific
questio
leads
to
a othe .
He
i itial
aim
was
to
use
a
sustai able
mate ial
to
filte
out
polluta ts
f om
ocea
wate .
She
sta ted
thi ki g
about
what
happe s
to
the
polluta ts
afte
filt atio ,
a d
bega
to
esea ch
the
o ga isms
that
live
i
the
filte
itself.
That
shift
i
pe spective
eve tually
led
he
to
fu gi
with
pote tially
valuable
abilities
fo
biodeg adatio .
She
bega
with
coco ut
husks
a d
a
effo t
to
clea
ocea
wate .
It
has
ope ed
the
doo
to
a
much
la ge
scie tific
questio
–
could
atu e
itself
hold
some
of
the
tools
eeded
to
tackle
the
g owi g
p oblem
of
plastic
a d
chemical
pollutio .Images
Cou tesy:
istock
a d
U ive sity
of
Hawai’i
News