Lilly was born and raised in the Santa Cruz Mountains. She currently goes to an academic-focused high school which specializes in college prep. Ultimately, Lilly’s future college degree and career will focus on creating a world where people will choose the environmentally conscious route, and find unique and effective ways to solve prolonging environmentally harmful issues. Lilly enjoys visiting the California Delta to fish and spend time with family and friends on the water. On one of her excursions to the Delta, Lilly noticed a layer of green algae covering parts of the water; she would later learn that what she saw were harmful algae blooms (HABs), and that they have earned that name due to the ways they harm people, animals, and the ecosystem. She wondered if she could use the harmful algae blooms to increase crop production because algae blooms are formed due to an excess of phosphorus and nitrogen, which are common nutrients found in fertilizers to foster plant growth. Lilly hopes that using an algae bio fertilizer will be able to increase crop production to help feed our increasing world population.

Click here for Lilly’s CV