High School West's Nita Lleshaj was named as a finalist of the National STEM Festival Challenge, one of 8 finalists in New York State. Her research project is in using zophobas atratus larva, aka superworms, to biodegrade several types of plastic. She has analyzed the gut biome of those larva and is now investigating a few select bacteria from that biome and their ability to degrade the same plastics.
Nita earned an Achievement Award for this work at the Long Island Science Congress last year. Nita will now be competing against the rest of the country for an opportunity to be named a National STEM Champion.
