North County Seniors Finish Second in National Environmental Competition

Luke Andraka and Dana Lunkenheimer, seniors at North County High School, won second place in the "We Can Change the World" challenge, according to the Siemens Corporation–the competition organizers.

The pair will split a $25,000 prize for a project focusing on the negative effects of abandoned "ghost" crab traps, and their three-pronged proposal for getting rid of the traps that cause millions of crabs to die every year.

"We attacked the problem on three fronts; public outreach, law policy and reinventing the common crab trap to make it cheaper for water men and safer for animals," the students said in their project description.

Their design focused on securing traps using zinc rings, which will dissolve and cause the traps to fall open if unattended for a significant amount of time.

Andraka and Lunkenheimer are both in North County’s STEM program and were mentored by STEM teacher Joe Pfistner.

According to the contest website, the first place prize went to students in Georgia who created a cost effective replacement for quantum dot solar cells, which are used in solar energy technologies.

Third place went to a team of students in Michigan, who created a water distiller made of recycled plastic, that cleans water with solar energy.

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