A school science project aimed at cleaning polluted seawater has led to a potentially important discovery. Hawaii high school student Vera Wang found that fungi naturally growing in coconut husks may be able to break down microplastics and sunscreen compounds. Her research, carried out with scientists at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, has now earned major recognition at the 2026 Hawaiʻi State Science & Engineering Fair.
Wang first began studying coconut waste as a natural filter when she was in 10th grade. What started as an attempt to trap pollutants in seawater eventually led her to a different question: what happens to those pollutants after they are captured?
