A a ya
Nage d a,
the
18-yea -old
Texas
stude t
(Image
C edit:
Society
Fo
Scie ce)
Food
waste
is
usually
thought
of
as
a
p oblem
that
begi s
i
the
kitche
a d
e ds
i
a
ga bage
bi .
But
o ce
that
waste
eaches
a
la dfill,
it
ca
c eate
a othe
e vi o me tal
p oblem:
metha e.
A a ya
Gulu
Nage d a,
a
18-yea -old
stude t
f om
Pla o,
Texas,
wo de ed
whethe
o e
of
atu e’s
smallest
scave ge s
could
help
tackle
some
of
that
waste.
Fo
he
Rege e o
Scie ce
Tale t
Sea ch
p oject,
she
studied
how
a ts
could
b eak
dow
food
waste
a d
developed
a
p ototype
of
a
a t-based
ae obic
digeste .
He
expe ime ts
compa ed
fou
a t
species
to
dete mi e
which
could
co sume
the
most
waste.
She
fou d
that
Campo otus
casta eus
pe fo med
pa ticula ly
well
a d
used
those
fi di gs
to
desig
he
system.
Tests
of
the
p ototype
fou d
it
was
about
83%
efficie t.
Acco di g
to
the
Society
fo
Scie ce,
which
featu ed
Nage d a
as
a
2026
Rege e o
Scie ce
Tale t
Sea ch
fi alist,
he
esea ch
could
poi t
towa d
a
ew
app oach
to
educi g
the
e vi o me tal
impact
of
food
waste
i
la dfills.
The
p oblem
with
food
waste
Food
waste
does
ot
simply
disappea
afte
it
is
th ow
away.
Whe
la ge
amou ts
of
o ga ic
mate ial
a e
bu ied
i
la dfills,
it
decomposes
u de
co ditio s
that
ca
p oduce
metha e,
a
powe ful
g ee house
gas.
Acco di g
to
the
Society
fo
Scie ce,
food
waste
p oduces
about
58%
of
metha e
emissio s
f om
la dfills.
That
makes
fi di g
ways
to
ma age
disca ded
food
pa ticula ly
impo ta t
fo
effo ts
to
educe
the
e vi o me tal
impact
of
waste.
I stead
of
looki g
fo
a
e ti ely
a tificial
solutio ,
Nage d a
explo ed
somethi g
that
al eady
exists
i
atu e.
A ts
a e
atu al
scave ge s
a d
egula ly
collect
a d
co sume
food
mate ials.
He
p oject
exami ed
whethe
thei
feedi g
behaviou
could
be
used
i
a
co t olled
system
to
help
b eak
dow
food
waste.
Fou
a t
species
we e
tested
Nage d a
bega
he
esea ch
by
testi g
fou
diffe e t
species
of
a ts.
The
aim
was
to
dete mi e
how
much
food
waste
each
species
could
b eak
dow
pe
a t
each
day.
The
expe ime ts
showed
that
Campo otus
casta eus
co sumed
the
g eatest
amou t
of
food
waste
amo g
the
tested
species.
The
species
also
had
the
highest
metabolic
ate,
maki g
it
the
st o gest
ca didate
fo
the
system
she
was
developi g.This
pa t
of
the
esea ch
was
impo ta t
because
the
p oject
was
ot
simply
based
o
the
idea
that
a ts
eat
food
waste.
Nage d a
wa ted
measu able
evide ce
showi g
which
species
could
pe fo m
the
task
most
effectively.
By
compa i g
the
species,
she
could
ide tify
the
a t
that
appea ed
most
p omisi g
fo
a
pote tial
waste-p ocessi g
system.
F om
expe ime t
to
p ototype
Afte
ide tifyi g
C.
casta eus
as
the
most
effective
species
i
he
tests,
Nage d a
took
the
p oject
a
step
fu the .
She
developed
a
model
to
estimate
how
much
metha e
emissio s
could
pote tially
be
educed
th ough
the
a ts’
activity.
The
model
co ected
the
amou t
of
food
waste
co sumed
with
the
pote tial
e vi o me tal
be efit
of
dive ti g
some
of
that
waste
f om
co ve tio al
la dfill
decompositio .
She
the
desig ed
a
p ototype
of
a
a t-based
ae obic
digeste
specifically
fo
food
waste.A
ae obic
digeste
is
desig ed
to
allow
decompositio
to
occu
i
the
p ese ce
of
oxyge .
I
Nage d a’s
co cept,
a ts
become
pa t
of
the
biological
p ocess
athe
tha
elyi g
e ti ely
o
co ve tio al
mecha ical
o
chemical
t eatme t
methods.The
p oposed
system
was
also
desig ed
with
cost
i
mi d.
Acco di g
to
the
Society
fo
Scie ce,
Nage d a
estimated
that
a
la ge
ve sio
of
the
system
could
cost
less
tha
$50,000.
P ototype
showed
83%
efficie cy
The
most
otable
esult
came
whe
Nage d a
tested
he
p ototype.
The
system
was
fou d
to
be
about
83%
efficie t,
acco di g
to
the
Society
fo
Scie ce.
That
esult
suggests
the
co cept
was
capable
of
p ocessi g
a
substa tial
po tio
of
the
food
waste
u de
the
co ditio s
tested.It
is
impo ta t
to
ote
that
this
was
a
stude t
esea ch
p ototype,
athe
tha
a
comme cially
deployed
la dfill
system.
The
fi di g
the efo e
ep ese ts
a
ea ly-stage
demo st atio
of
the
co cept
athe
tha
p oof
that
a t-based
digeste s
a e
eady
to
eplace
existi g
waste-ma ageme t
i f ast uctu e.
Still,
the
esult
p ovides
a
basis
fo
fu the
esea ch.
Additio al
wo k
could
exami e
how
the
system
pe fo ms
with
diffe e t
types
a d
qua tities
of
food
waste,
how
the
a ts
behave
ove
lo ge
pe iods
a d
how
the
app oach
might
wo k
at
a
much
la ge
scale.
A
fi alist
at
a
majo
scie ce
competitio
Nage d a’s
wo k
ea ed
he
a
place
amo g
the
fi alists
of
the
2026
Rege e o
Scie ce
Tale t
Sea ch,
o e
of
the
cou t y’s
majo
scie ce
competitio s
fo
high
school
stude ts.
The
2026
fi alist
g oup
i cluded
stude ts
f om
35
schools
ac oss
15
states.
They
we e
selected
f om
300
schola s
a d
2,612
e t a ts,
with
mo e
tha
$1.8
millio
i
p izes
available,
i cludi g
a
top
p ize
of
$250,000.
As
pe
The
Society
fo
Scie ce,
the
fi alists
we e
chose
based
o
the
o igi ality
a d
c eativity
of
thei
esea ch,
as
well
as
thei
achieveme ts
a d
leade ship.Nage d a’s
p oject
sta ds
out
because
it
co ects
a
familia
e vi o me tal
p oblem
with
a
u co ve tio al
biological
solutio .
Rathe
tha
t eati g
a ts
simply
as
i sects
fou d
a ou d
disca ded
food,
he
esea ch
asks
whethe
thei
atu al
behaviou
ca
become
pa t
of
a
co t olled
waste-ma ageme t
p ocess.
Tu i g
a
small
i sect
i to
a
big
idea
The
idea
behi d
Nage d a’s
p oject
is
elatively
simple:
if
a ts
ca
atu ally
co sume
a d
b eak
dow
food,
pe haps
thei
abilities
ca
be
ha essed
to
p ocess
some
of
the
waste
that
would
othe wise
e d
up
i
la dfills.
He
esea ch
does
ot
solve
the
food-waste
p oblem
o
its
ow ,
but
it
demo st ates
how
biological
p ocesses
ca
i spi e
ew
app oaches
to
e vi o me tal
challe ges.Fo
a
18-yea -old
stude t,
developi g
the
idea
f om
species
testi g
to
mathematical
modelli g
a d
fi ally
to
a
wo ki g
p ototype
ep ese ts
a
substa tial
esea ch
jou ey.
A d
with
a
efficie cy
of
about
83%
i
he
tests,
Nage d a’s
a t-based
digeste
offe s
a
i t igui g
sta ti g
poi t
fo
esea che s
i te ested
i
fi di g
mo e
sustai able
ways
to
deal
with
food
waste.