Working For A

Brighter Tomorrow

By Larissa Lytwyn

Newtown High School student Michael Taylor recently completed an environmental education curriculum, “An Urban-Suburban Partnership,” for the Bridgeport Neighborhood Trust that will be used in an EPA job-training center, a project that awarded him a $1,600 first runner-up scholarship from the prestigious Weller Foundation. Michael also was awarded a $2,500 Albert and Helen Meserve Scholarship for this endeavor.

In addition, he was the youngest person to have a project –– “Communicating Natural Biodegration and Environmental Risk Issues” –– accepted for presentation at the Battelle International Symposium last month in Orlando, Fla.

Michael co-authored the piece with Dr David Gute, Tufts University associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Dr Patrick McLoughlin, director of research at Microseeps, Incorporated, a Pennsylvania-based environmental analysis company performing remediation services to clients across the globe.

The Symposium’s keynote speaker was Pulitzer-prize winning biologist, E.O. Wilson.