I originally planned on researching the mealworm consumption of styrofoam, because these insects can safely digest styrofoam and digest it into a biodegradable substance. However, I learned that styrofoam will likely be banned soon, and the existing styrofoam in landfills is buried under other waste. So I chose to research a topic with future potential, and decided to stick with mealworms but change the waste stream to agricultural byproducts. However, I plan on constructing a styrofoam degradation facility here at Marin Academy to biodegrade the styrofoam that MA and MA students receive from online shipments.

For my project I am working with Dr. Christian Nansen and Trevor Fowles at UC Davis. I am studying the best way to optimize the potential of mealworms as bio converters. Today, millions of tons of agricultural byproducts are wasted every year, and mealworms have promising potential to recycle these nutrients in the form of fertilizer for future crops and insect biomass for animal feed. I will study the mealworm consumption rates as they are fed a variety of different food sources to identify the top performers for the purpose of selective breeding. I will also identify the ideal food source for accumulating insect biomass.

My goal is to complete 2 trials and complete a lab manuscript and publish my research.

I also hope to develop a larger scale styrofoam decomposition system here at MA over summer. I will host styrofoam drives at MA and decompose this styrofoam with mealworms.