In July, high school students from the North Carolina School of Science and Math participated in HackBio, a week-long program hosted by the Nicholas School and the School of Medicine. Founded in 2019 by Nicholas School of the Environment’s Megan Dunphy-Daly and the School of Medicine’s Jason Somarelli, HackBio helps students to develop skills essential to careers in STEM fields. During this year’s session, students explored the challenges of plastic pollution and ways to address the problem. After learning about plastic additives, toxic exposure studies and plastic cleanup efforts, students competed in a hackathon to develop and pitch creative ways to address plastic pollution. The two winning teams will continue their work with the support of Duke faculty and staff. One team proposed a way to improve collection of microplastics — miniscule pieces of plastic debris — in streams, and the other launched a school club to raise awareness about and drive efforts to reduce plastic waste. READ MORE.