Sophie Ineson, 17, has been selected to represent New Zealand at the International Science and Engineering Fair in the United States in May next year.
Her project, Disrupted Digestion, is one of two selected by Royal Society Te Apārangi judges. Seven science projects, by students in years 11, 12 and 13, were put forward from regional science fairs from throughout New Zealand.
Last month, Sophie won the $50,000 Prime Minister’s Space Prize for Student Endeavour for a project about healing wounds in space.
It was "phenomenal" a project she completed about penguins as part of the requirements for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award gold award could lead to her taking part in an international science fair, Sophie said.
While it was hard to believe, she was also very grateful for the opportunity, she said.
She chose to study the effect of plastic on penguin digestion after seeing a sick penguin at a sanctuary a few years ago.
"Penguins are also my favourite animal, so that really hit hard for me, looking at this poor little penguin who could hardly even walk, just because of eating a little tiny bit of plastic."
She also took part in a Spirit of Adventure sailing trip last year and saw the amount of plastic in the Hauraki Gulf.
"I think that some people may not even consider how much of an impact maybe their plastic straw or just not disposing of the waste properly has on the penguins."
During her research, she experimented to see how different plastics affected the enzymes found in king penguins’ stomachs.
She was limited to using enzymes, lipase and amylase, which she could access and use safely.
She found plastics did interfere with digestion and the degree to which they did depended on factors including how big the plastic was, its density and chemical makeup.
A Royal Society’s scientific review committee member will mentor Sophie to help get her project ready for the international fair.
Royal Society Te Apārangi president distinguished professor Dame Jane Harding said science fairs challenged and inspired students to excellence.
"Science and technology fairs offer students valuable opportunities to apply scientific investigation to real-world problems, while strengthening their critical thinking, creativity and communication skills."
