Down East RC&D

12/14/2016

Please contact the Maine Department of Agriculture Conservation and Forestry by Friday, December 16, and encourage them to approve the invasive plant list.

10/14/2016

There are many reasons why eating local should be a priority throughout the entire year.

10/12/2016

Native American communities are connecting to their roots through food, farming, and education.

10/12/2016

The documentary Occupy the Farm shows the positive impact universities could have if they leveraged their resources to create more farms and farmers.

08/26/2016

In the worst year of puffin populations recorded on Machias Seal Island, only 12 per cent of puffin chicks survived the first six weeks of life this summer and none are expected to live long enough to breed.

08/24/2016

'They never stop, folks. They are constantly on the march.'

08/24/2016

Come meet the love of your life!

More adorable kittens will be waiting to meet you on September 3rd at Maine Pet and Aquarium in Ellsworth. See you there!

08/18/2016

Cosmo grew up on Whistling Train Farm in Kent, Washington. ‘I thought it’d be cool to have a market,’ the young entrepreneur says. ‘And it is.’

08/15/2016

Innovative programs can help a vulnerable population stay healthy.

08/15/2016

Paul Quinn College was in a serious state of deterioration when Michael J. Sorrell took the reins as president. The historically Black college in Dallas, Texas, was millions of dollars in debt, facing dwindling student enrollment, and contending with some serious cultural issues. From the moment tha...

07/22/2016

07/20/2016

17-year-old Paige Brown of Bangor, Maine won the 2016 Intel Science Talent Search for her innovative method of cleaning polluted waterways using dollar-store hair clips, a block of foam, and seaweed! For her ingenious invention, the Mighty Girl was the recipient of the prestigious science fair's "Global Good Prize" and a $150,000 college scholarship. Paige's invention makes it possible to inexpensively remove excess phosphorus from water in order to prevent harmful algal blooms which kill fish and other plant life.

With her research, Paige wanted to tackle a widespread problem called eutrophication, in which a nutrient, often phosphorous, seeps from decaying organic matter like dead leaves and causes an excess of algae growth in water. The excess algae uses up the available oxygen leading to animal and plant die-off and it can also produce a toxin that's harmful to humans. To remove extra phosphorous from water, Paige used a gel called "alginate", which she extracted from seaweed, and mixed it with aluminum and magnesium. She placed balls of the compound in the mouths of dollar-store claw hair clips and stabilized them in blocks of foam. She discovered that one gram of her compound has the potential to "clean 254 liters of water contaminated with 0.5 mg/L phosphorus" which she adds "would be very contaminated water to begin with” -- all for $3 worth of materials! And, as an added bonus, after the collection, it can be "planted" in the ground to act as a slow-release capsule to provide phosphorous for crops that need it as fertilizer.

With such promising results, Paige is eager to continue researching the potential applications of her invention and will next study its effectiveness at removing E. coli bacteria from polluted water. And, to other aspiring young scientists, Paige can't recommend the experience of participating in STS highly enough. “It’s an incredible opportunity... The kind of connections I can make here are going to be crucial further down the line,” she says. “It’s an opportunity I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.”

You can read more about Paige’s incredible research on Tech Insider at http://bit.ly/1PUutG3

For books for young readers about girls who love science and its potential to change the world, check out our blog post, "Ignite Her Curiosity: 20 Books Starring Science-Loving Mighty Girls," at http://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=10940

To inspire your Mighty Girl with more stories of real-life female scientists who have made important discoveries, visit our post, "Those Who Dared To Discover: 15 Women Scientists You Should Know," at http://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=11511

If you'd like to encourage your own aspiring scientist, you can find many hands-on science toys and kits in our blog post, "Top 40 Science Toys for Mighty Girls," at http://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=10528

And, if your Mighty Girl loves to show off her love of science, visit our science-themed t-shirt section at http://amgrl.co/1RHBLTv