Microplastics—the broken down byproduct of plastic items we toss out every day—are choking our oceans. But middle-schooler Anna Du is on the case! Now a top science fair winner, Anna shares her account of how she went from worrying about the environment to designing award-winning solutions. Writing for kids her own age, Anna alerts her readers to the threat of microplastics pollution and urges them to care about the environment. She leads them through the frustrating-yet-rewarding process of design, engineering, and invention. This book could inspire a generation of inventors and engineers! link
Microplastics and Me may sound like nonfiction (indeed, it embraces many nonfiction elements, educating readers about microplastics and conservation), but it reads with the lively inspection of fiction and will reach grades 3-6 with its story of middle grader/author Anna Du's discovery of how she translated her environmental concerns into award-winning solutions.
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Microplastics and Me is a highly recommended, unique standout in the world of children's conservation writing. Its young author's enthusiasm, research, and concrete science fair tips are extraordinarily helpful and hopeful for fellow would-be young conservationists. link
State Library of Massachusetts will host a Author Talk with Anna Du, author of Microplastics and Me Read more
Anna is one of the top 300 scholars in Regeneron STS 2024 Read more
Anna is one of Gen Z Women making wave in STEM Read more
Anna Du Named 2023 Davidson Fellows Scholarship Winner Read more
Teen Developed Amazing AI tool to Predict Ocean Plastic Pollution Read more
Anna Du, a 17-year-old high school student, invented a device to detect dangerous microplastics in the ocean in hopes of raising awareness about the issue. Read more
A Massachusetts teenager's impressive invention is helping to clean up small pieces of plastic from the ocean. Read more
Anna is in the book series Young Change Makes - Leading The Way Read more
If you’re in need of some wholesome content then this story of high-schooler Anna Du might just do the trick... Read more
Anna Du grew up with a hunger for knowledge and a passion for making the earth a better place. Now, at just 16 years old, she’s already making incredible contributions to help reduce microplastic pollution Read more
Anna Du is only 16 - but she's changing the world already. This motivated and environmentally conscious high school student... Read more
Anna won First Place at Junior Science And Humanities Symposium New England region, and now is a two-time National Finalist. Read more
Anna won That's Geography! Cultivating Empathy for the Earth Award by Society of Science and Public and National Geographic Read more
Anna's photograph was selected to be part of the 2021 International Photo Exhibition River and Ocean, Connecting Water to Life at the National Science and Technology Fair 2021 which will be held during 9 – 19 November 2021, the biggest fair of the year in science and technology in Thailand. Read more
Listen to Anna on The Genius Generation PodCast Read more
Anna was listed in Mission Magazine's youth series Read more
Anna won the 3rd place in Regeneron ISEF 2021 Read more
Anna won the grand prize of Mass Science Fair – Sanofi Genzyme Award. As a freshman, Anna is the youngest person to receive this distinction Read more
Anna won Second Place and National Finalist for oral presentation Read more
Anna won First Place in Massachusetts Region IV Science Fair, and qualified for ISEF 2021 Read more
On July 28 at 1pm ET, the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes presents a virtual Young Heroes Summit that brings together past winners ... Read more
An extraordinary eighth grader has made it her mission ... Read more
Investigating a Machine Learning Based ROV to Identify Aggregation of Marine Microplastics... Read more
...Anna invented a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) that detects microplastics on the ocean floor. She has also created the Deep Plastics Initiative... Read more
Our planet in 2050: young people's aspirations for an aware and responsible society Read more
...To jsou projekty, na kterých ve volném čase pracuje Anna Du... Read more
Anna Du is the keynote speaker at Czech Innovation Week 2019 Read more
Anna was selected as Keynote speaker at LeadLikeGirl Conference ... Read more
Anna Du has been named one of the top ten students in the US, by 3M’s America’s Young Scientist Challenge, as well as being selected students... Read more
...A 7th grader has taken a stab at creating such technology. Anna Du ... Read more
Anna Du was walking along Castle Island’s beach in South Boston when she noticed plastic scattered on the ... Read more
Anna Du built a robot to help remove the 150 million metric tons of plastic waste from our oceans. She joins CBN to discuss her ambitions. Read more
As one of 10 finalists of the 3M Young Scientist Challenge, 12-year-old Anna Du will now get the chance to bring her invention to the seas. Read more
'She has all of the qualities — all of those essential ingredients — to be a great scientist.'... Read more
Saving the planet’s oceans from plastic pollution isn’t on the agenda of a typical 12-year-old. However... Read more
For 12-year-old Anna Du a love of the ocean and marine animals inspired her to build a device that hunts for microplastics... Read more
annadu@annadu.org
Phillips Academy, 180 Main ST, Andover, MA 01810
Anna Du is a high school student in Massachusetts. She is a nationally recognized advocate for microplastics awareness and pollution prevention. Her interest in saving the ocean from plastics pollution has lead to her becoming the top-rated female middle schooler in science fairs in the country, as she has placed first in her state science and engineering fair, became a national Broadcom MASTERS finalist twice, and was named a Top Ten Young Scientist in the US, by Discovery Education and 3M. Her works have been featured by WGBH, Huffington Post, FOX 25 News, Fast Company and Smithsonian Magazine. News about her achievements have been translated to numerous languages around the world. Her goal is to spread the word not only about the dangers of microplastics in our environment, but also about the ways to mitigate this problem. Anna is calling on young people everywhere to become STEM literate, to use their knowledge to help solve world problems that will face their generation as they get older, and to prevent further damage to the climate and the environment to help preserve Earth for generations to come.
The ocean fills up over 70% of Earth’s surface.
Plastics are synthetic polymers that can take hundreds of years to break down in the ocean.
Infrared spectroscopy is commonly used by recycling companies to clean up plastics.