Hannah Herbst is a phenomenal girl because for such a young age already taking care of the environment by her scientist knowledge. She is still 16 years old and comes from Boca Raton, Florida, United States. When she was in seventh grade, she received a letter that discussed the living conditions of her best friend Ruth, who lived in Ethiopia.
She learned that Ruth lived in poverty with minimal access to electricity in the form of lights, medical supplies, and many other things. “I know that I want to do something to help, so I made an oceanic energy investigation that I call BEACON, or Bring Access to Electricity to Countries through Marine Energy,” she stressed that point on one of her interview.
The device changes the current kinetic movement of energy from every moving body of water into a usable source of electricity, and its application can be used in areas where people live in a state of poverty towards global energy. This device is made from 90% recycled materials that are easily found throughout the world, including 2 liters bottle and recycled spoons.
This device is worth $ 12 and is made to produce enough electricity to turn on LED lights. Hannah imagines BEACON is used in developing countries to pump electricity for fresh water, run centrifuges to test blood and power buoys for maritime navigation.
“I realized that the environment was important from a very young age. I am always curious, and as a child, I prefer ‘rock hunt’ to a dollhouse, which triggered my first interest in learning about the environment,”. She is currently in the process of making the prototype so that other people around the world can imitate her creation, both to be used to fight energy poverty in developing countries and to encourage STEM namely education in classrooms around the world.
Hannah Herbst and the SEAIC Project
Hannah is also in the final stages of perfecting the discovery called SEAIC, or the Initial Air Chemical Identification System, which will quickly detect the presence of airborne chemicals produced from accidental or intentional sources. Additionally, it can issue warnings for those in the affected area, and quickly evacuate vulnerable populations in this situation.
She advised to always curious and brave when you look for solutions to local and global problems and find a mentor who has the same passion as you. For her extraordinary efforts, Hannah was named the Gloria Barron Prize winner for the Young Heroes. This prize was given to glorify 25 outstanding young leaders aged 8 to 18 who have made a significant positive difference for the people and planet.
Hannah has a passion for learning, solving problems, and helping others. She wants to pursue a bachelor’s degree in computer science. She created a prototype of a marine energy probe that seeks to offer stable resources to developing countries using unused energy from ocean currents. This innovation was inspired by Hannah’s desire to help a nine-year-old penpal who lives in Sub-Saharan Africa, where many people live in energy poverty with sporadic access or no electricity.
A Series of Achievements from Hannah Herbst
In addition, Hannah has explored the initial identification method for hazardous chemicals in the air in collaboration with I-SENSE at Florida Atlantic University.
Hannah competed in the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge\ and was awarded the title as America’s Top Young Scientist in 2015. Hannah has delivered keynote speeches and speeches at the United Nations STI Forum, the Social Innovation Summit, the National Science Olympic Competition and the Leadership Conference Discovery Education.
She also has been featured in many publications including WIRED and Porter, and the Huffington Post. Hannah Herbst has a passion for educating others, especially young girls, to use STEM, and has exhibited her research at the 2016 White House Science Exhibition, United State of Women, and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. What an amazing girl.
