Mispagel Wins Stockholm Junior Water Prize

摘要

Be passionate. That's the advice Heather Mispagel, the 2003 U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) winner, would pass on to future contest participants. "If you're not interested in the topic, you're not going to learn anything about it, and you're not going to care when people ask you questions," she said. "Just be passionate about your subject because there's no point in doing anything if you're not passionate about it." This year, the national competition for the most prestigious international youth award for a water science research project was held in Dallas and hosted by the Water Environment Federation of Texas. Mispagel received the award on June 7 for her project, "Antibiotic Resistance from Sewage Oxidation Ponds." Mispagel, who lives in Athens, Ga., beat out 36 other state winners to receive the SJWP, including a $2500 prize and an all-expenses-paid trip to Stockholm to compete in the international competition. Four finalists also were chosen (see sidebar, p. 32) and each received a $500 cash prize.