November’s Young Planet Leader - Audrey Duenas
Audrey Dueñas is a dedicated 16-year-old environmental enthusiast who works to preserve the environment for future generations to come. With a profound love for the ocean and a passion for scuba diving, Audrey actively contributes to the preservation of marine life. She has worked to preserve ocean life through coral restoration efforts. Through scuba diving, she is able to access and work on coral restoration projects in underwater environments. This allows her to observe the coral reefs up close, enabling her to monitor the progress of restoration efforts and assess the overall health of the reef ecosystem. Through her dives, she actively participates in the maintenance of coral nurseries, where young corals are cultivated before being transplanted onto degraded reef areas.
Audrey also actively engages in environmental conservation through her participation in beach clean-ups. She works to collect plastic waste, debris, and other pollutants from the shorelines. During these clean-ups, Audrey not only removes harmful materials from the beach but also educates others about the impact of litter on marine life and the environment. She believes that community involvement is crucial in helping in these restoration efforts. Additionally, she qualified for the Science Fair at her school with research that deals with not only how the environment is impacted when environmental disasters occur, but how the ecosystem as a whole is impacted. As global warming and climate change become more of a prevalent issue worldwide, so do wildfires. The prevalence of wildfires around the world has increased due to climate change and other factors. These wildfires may destroy homes and threaten the livelihoods of people across the world. Not only that, the organisms in and surrounding the area may also be affected by these wildfires. Her research led her to explore the effects of wildfire ashes on the behavior of Drosophila - specifically their geotaxis movement - which acts as a model organism.
Audrey is a member of the Green Global Club and Florida Wildlife Conservation Club at school in which she advocates for the protection of endangered animals. She has worked with organizations, such as WWF to help ensure these animals are safe from extinction and will be protected. She has fundraised to make a positive impact and urged people to do what they can to protect the environment. She participates in 5k runs in which all funds go towards helping conserve the environment and its natural beauty. Audrey believes that even something as small as using electricity efficiently, conserving water, and recycling whenever possible can help reduce your carbon footprint and is something everyone can do. Lowering carbon footprint creates a healthier and more sustainable future for both the planet and its inhabitants. It's a collective effort that can lead to a more prosperous planet for all.
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