MONTE VISTA — “Science Friday” from Pittsburgh interviewed Alyssa Rawinski of Monte Vista during the International Science and Engineering Fair. This show was broadcast live and direct from the Pittsburgh studio. She and another student were interviewed by Ira Flatow.

Nearly 2,000 students from 75 countries came to present their projects. 

Flatow interviewed Rawinski, a junior from Monte Vista High School who studied the feasibility of using mealworms to recycle plastics, and Everett Kroll, a junior from Stillwater Area High School from Woodbury, Minnesota, who created and tested an affordable 3D-printed prosthetic foot.

SciFri continued the discussion with these questions and answers:

Briefly, what is your project?

The goal of my project was to try to find a more eco-friendly way to decrease the plastic accumulation by using mealworms to biodegrade plastics. My study analyzed polystyrene and two plastics that haven’t been tested, polypropylene and low-density polyethylene.

Why did you decide to look into this question?

I was hearing a lot about the damage that was being caused by plastics in the ocean. It’s harming ecosystems and almost 300 species in the ocean and I wanted to see if I can do anything to prevent that, even though I live far away from the ocean. Since plastics that end up in the ocean come from land, that means that the solution must also start on land, and that’s how I thought I could help find a solution and make a difference.

What was one surprising thing you learned during the experiment?

The biggest surprise was that mealworms actually do consume multiple types of plastic. In general, I was surprised that these mealworms eat a lot of different things—and they’re kind of stubborn sometimes and somewhat unpredictable.

In my initial setup, I was using plastic drawers to contain them and it had tin foil dividers within the drawers to separate the worm groups, but they started chewing on the tin foil. I didn’t want that so I had to move them into solo cups. Another thing I wanted to provide was moisture to the worms by putting wet pieces of pumice into each of the cups. But after they chewed on the tin foil I decided to test it out, and they chewed on the pumice as well. So they weren’t working with me really well, but I eventually figured it out [with the solo cup setup].

Another big surprise was that having a mixture of plastic and potato was the most effective. Potato provided nutrients to the mealworms so they were healthier, but they still choose to consume the plastic.

If you could have dinner with any scientist (living or dead) who would it be and why?

I’m going to say Jane Goodall right now because she is really passionate about her work and she’s been doing it her whole life. She works with animals, which I really care a lot about. She also knows a lot about her field and I think she can really inspire me to find what I’m passionate about because I’m still looking for that.

Caption: Ira Flatow, left, of “Science Friday” interviews Alyssa Rawinski of Monte Vista and Everett Kroll of Woodbury, Minnesota, right./Courtesy photo by Loree Harvey