I am a secondary-school student (15 years old, Year 10) at the British International School Budapest. I have been scuba diving since I was eight and I compete as a junior windsurfer. Both keep me on the coast year-round, following wind and wave forecasts daily. That is part of how I got interested in marine biology and environmental science. I am also involved in robotics, volunteering in a local club and mentoring younger students. I also help with visual design and set-building for school theatre productions.
I am considering studying environmental engineering or marine science at university. In the longer term, I hope to keep working on water-quality problems where physics, technology, and how people behave all matter together.
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Manager for Stockholm Junior Water Prize
Alia Baidoun
2026•Laura Ivanka
DIVE&CLEAN: Early Submerged Plastic Removal
Coastal plastic settling on the seabed fragments into microplastics that persist in sediments for decades, degrading benthic habitat and water quality. This study quantifies how early removal of submerged macroplastic prevents long-term accumulation. Physics-based stability analysis, field tests in Malta, and worldwide surveys confirm technical and social feasibility of DIVE&CLEAN, a low-cost diver-assisted seabed bin deployed at recreational dive routes. Each bin also serves as a fixed sampling station for microplastic research. The model predicts >96% prevention when intervention starts in the first five years (across all tested fragmentation rates), but only 76% if delayed to year 20.
