SOLVING FOR TOMORROW: Princeton High School’s research team has been chosen as one of eight New Jersey finalists in the 2023 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM competition. PHS researchers, from left, are Matias da Costa, Nicholas Akey, Yangwenbo (William) Yao, Daniela Gonzalez, Courtney Weber, Sabine Ristad, Luisa Buss, and William Ponder. (Photo courtesy of Mark Eastburn)

By Donald Gilpin

A Princeton High School (PHS) team of student scientists has for the second year in a row been named one of eight New Jersey finalists in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM Competition, and PHS is one of 300 public schools in the country to be selected.

The school district has been awarded a $2,500 package for technology and school supplies and the team will find out later this month whether it will be named the state winner and receive an additional $20,000 in technology equipment. Last year’s PHS research team went all the way to win Samsung’s national competition, bringing home a prize of $110,000 for its black soldier fly project to process food waste into animal feed and soap, reducing both food waste and greenhouse emissions in the process.

The Samsung competition challenges students in grades 6 to 12 to explore the role science, technology, engineering, and math can play in addressing some of the biggest issues in their local communities. “The competition is designed to engage students in active, hands-on learning that can be applied to real-world problems —making STEM more tangible and showcasing its value beyond the classroom,” according to a Samsung press release.

This year’s PHS entry in the Samsung competition is a framework for saltwater aquaponics, growing plants in salt water where shrimp waste is used as fertilizer to help the plants grow. “It’s a really interesting project because both the plants and the fish benefit from it,” said 10th grade team member Sabine Ristad in a February 6 Zoom interview. “The nutrients that the fish put into the water help the plants grow. I think it’s cool how they both work together for a greater benefit. I learned a lot from the project about how to build these systems and work with other people.”

The award-winning PHS research program, led by PHS science teacher Mark Eastburn, seems to generate an abundance of groundbreaking, interesting projects.

“I like how the research program encourages you to be really creative and think outside the box,” said sophomore researcher William Ponder. “Not only is Mr. Eastburn encouraging, he’s really passionate about this.”

“The people who change the world aren’t the people who got the best grades in school,” said PHS sophomore research team member Luisa Buss. “It’s the people who are creative enough to think of solutions to global problems.”

Buss, who grew up in Sao Paulo, Brazil, went on to discuss the impact of the research program and the significance of the salt water aquaponics project. “Research gives us the chance to explore things we wouldn’t get in other classes,” she said. “You do better work when you’re working on something you’re passionate about. This project is something I really care about in general, and it’s an issue that really affects me because the majority of my life I lived in a country where drought was so normal and having enough water was more rare. This could change the way my country operates and lives.”

Eastburn emphasized the significance of the PHS project’s use of salt water. “We have all this salt water sitting around covering our planet — 97 percent of water on Earth is salt water. If we can utilize that 97 percent to grow food, the planet will be in much better shape.”

Daniela Gonzalez, a 12th grade member of the team, who is also a finalist in the New Jersey Southern Science and Humanities competition and is currently engaged in at least two other research projects, commented on the PHS Samsung project. 

“This will be a great model for communities, especially ones with limited resources that are close to the ocean,” she said. “It provides them with a way of accessing food and economic resources out of the salt water which they have in abundance.”

Gonzalez went on to emphasize the ecological benefits from the project. “What we’re doing is taking this shrimp poop — with ammonia and nitrates — that becomes fertilizer for the plants,” she said. “It helps the plants grow. So we’re using what would be pollution and we’re repurposing it, recycling it into fertilizer to help plants grow.”

It was Gonzalez, Eastburn noted, who encouraged him to enter the PHS research team’s project in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM competition for the first time in 2021.

“Solve for Tomorrow was designed to provide schools and teachers with an innovative, problem-based learning approach to STEM education to boost student interest, proficiency, and diversity in STEM,” said Samsung Electronics America Chief Marketing, Citizenship, and Communications Officer Michelle Crossan-Matos in the Samsung press release. “This fresh crop of impressive state finalists is proof that we’re succeeding.”