E.P.A. presents award to Oregon Tenth grader for work on marine oil spills

(Seattle-May 6, 2015) The E.P.A., Region ten is awarding the President's Environmental Youth Award to Tenth grader Sahil Veeramoney for his development of a novel and efficient method to clean up marine oil spills. Veeramoney is a student at Oregon Episcopal School in Portland, Oregon.

"Sahil's research to protect water resources from oil spills is important for the Northwest where rivers, lakes and seas are a cornerstone of our ecosystems," said Dennis McLerran, E.P.A. Regional Administrator for E.P.A. Region 10. "It's exciting to see students linking current events and science to find solutions for our most pressing environmental issues."

Veeramoney developed a novel and efficient method to remediate marine oil spills. After studying the environmental impact of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico and subsequent oil spills, Veeramoney researched different cleanup methods. His goal was to develop an efficient cleanup method that could be used in the U.S. and worldwide.

Veeramoney focused on the use of ferromagnetic nanoparticles to magnetize and separate the oil. His detailed study, discussions with experts, and experimentation led him to create a novel and efficient method to use ferromagnetic nanoparticles and chlorella algae. In a lab setting, the results showed significant improvement in efficiency over current oil spill remediation methods.

He presented and discussed his plan with several students, the general public, and professionals during a period of 4 months in Portland, Houston, and Los Angeles. This increased general awareness of the environmental impact of oil spills, the inefficiency of current methods of oil remediation, and the need to develop more efficient methods of environmental management after an oil spill.

Veeramoney has won several awards at local, regional, state and international competitions and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

For more information on the President's Environmental Youth Award, visit: http://www2.epa.gov/education/presidents-environmental-youth-award

There are currently no comments for this story. Be the first to add a comment!
Click here to add a comment about this story.