Sophie Zeng

What they built

Founded Project ARISE (AI-Assisted Removal of Invasive Species for Environmental Restoration) — an AI-powered mobile app that identifies and classifies invasive plant species so citizen scientists can safely remove them. Built from scratch as a high school sophomore in 2022, the app achieves 90%+ classification accuracy. The nonprofit has facilitated ~18,000 lbs of invasive plant removal, 1,200+ volunteer service hours, and has chapters globally. Also co-presented research at the 11th International Conference on Machine Vision and Machine Learning.

Verified track record

• 1. Barron Prize 2025 Runner-Up (Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes): — 'Sophie Zeng, age 17, of California, who founded Project ARISE' 2. San Diego Union-Tribune (June 2025): https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/06/24/change-maker-local-student-promotes-biodiversity-with-nonprofit-project-arise/ 3. San Diego Union-Tribune — SD County's 25 Most Remarkable Teens (Nov 2024): https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2024/11/27/bishops-school-student-named-one-of-s-d-countys-most-remarkable-teens/ 4. San Diego Union-Tribune — Social Innovation Challenge win (April 2024): https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2024/04/03/bishops-school-students-win-social-innovation-challenge-with-ai-algorithm-that-identifies-invasive-plants/ 5. Ashoka Changemakers #MyChangemakerStory feature: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNTeYjeuIYq/ 6. YouTube Eco-Hero Finalist 2024 (age 16): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxEMlHANGfY 7. San Diego Business Journal (Sept 2025) Note: Age confirmed as 17 at Barron Prize announcement (Sept 2025); currently 17–18 as of April 2026 (Bishop's School Class of 2026, senior). [PictureURL Finder] Checked Project ARISE team page + SD Union-Tribune article; both reference photos but extracted text did not expose stable direct image URLs (CDN/og:image not surfaced). Per source-priority rule, not downgrading to unstable social images. PictureURL left as [no verified image found]. (source)