Founder18
Alaina Zhang
17 Y/O•Portsmouth, Rhode Island, USA•Other

Alaina Zhang

Founded Harvesting Change and built one of Rhode Island’s first student-run sugar kelp farms to reduce coastal nitrogen pollution by 30%+ — documented by the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes (2025 winner profile).

What they built

Founded Harvesting Change, the first student-run sugar kelp farm in Rhode Island, to combat nitrogen pollution in Narragansett Bay. Her research demonstrates that sugar kelp farming can reduce nitrogen overload by 30% or more — nitrogen from agricultural runoff and urban sewage causes algal blooms that deplete oxygen and destroy marine life. She secured government permits, collaborated with Brown University and URI researchers, and established the Narragansett Bay Resilience Collaborative to drive policy change. Her findings have been submitted for publication as first author in Frontiers in Marine Science.

View Project

The F18 Thesis

Verified track record

  • EastBayRI (Apr 16, 2025) — Senior at Portsmouth Abbey School researching sugar kelp (source)
  • Rhode Island Monthly (Sep 17, 2025) — Barron Prize winner profile (source)
  • Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes (Sep 16, 2025) — official winner listing, age 17 (source)
  • HeyRhody Media — profile and interview (source)
  • WPRI TV / The Rhode Show (Nov 4, 2025) and The Power of Young People podcast (Nov 26, 2025) also featured her work.
Updated April 27, 2026