By Andrew Martins, Managing Editor
For the last six years, Sonja Michaluk has spent large portions of her spare time in the creeks and rivers that cut through the landscape of the Hopewell Valley region, as well as the rest of the state, to collect samples of the macro-invertebrates that call those waterways home.
With the amount of data collected, she has since created a special algorithm that helps determine how healthy a stream is, and has been a driving factor in diverting a pipeline, the preservation of Princeton Ridge and the topic of a traveling series of lectures called “The Salamander’s Dilemma.”
And while that long list of accomplishments would be impressive for most, the Titusville native and scientific wunderkind with an interest in Albert Einstein, has done all of that while juggling school, as well as her other hobbies, as a 13 year-old girl.
“I’m always out sampling and collecting data,” she said. “It’s just a thing I always do.”
Earlier this year, Sonja was one of 30 finalists in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering for Rising Stars) competition, which challenges some of the nation’s brightest young minds to “become the STEM innovators who will tackle 21st century challenges.”
She, along with the 29 other finalists, competed at Washington D.C. after making it past a field of 300 semi-finalists who each had their own innovative way of tackling a myriad of issues, ranging from environmental conservation to aerodynamics.
As a finalist, Sonja got a $500 prize and the Timberlane Middle School got a $1,000 gift to bolster its STEM program. And while her entry did not make it past the 30 finalists, Sonja’s work continues to bring her new insights into the world of macro-invertebrates, stream health and science.
Sonja said her entry, the mathematical algorithm that predicts the impacts of potential land development on the chemical and biological health of a potentially affected stream, was the product of weekend trips with her father to the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association that began when she was seven years old.
“I would go with my dad and we would get the samples, preserve them in alcohol and take them back to the watershed to identify them,” she said. “I just began to enjoy it more and more and I looked forward to doing it.”
Since creating her algorithm, Sonja said she has applied it at Bear Brook, Millstone River, Jacobs Creek, Stony Brook and other local waterways.
Sonja’s data has also led to a number of instances where it has had a real world impact.
In one instance, the teen said she noticed that the samples she was collecting in one stream began to deteriorate as she traveled downstream. Her findings showed a decline in biological and chemical health. Sure enough, Sonja said she found a drainage pipe that led directly into the stream.
“From sampling the water that was coming out of the drainage pipe, I noticed that it was very high in nutrient pollution, it was very acidic and it was coming from the main road,” Sonja said.
That nutrient pollution, as it turned out, was fertilizer runoff from a nearby farm.
In another instance, Sonja’s algorithm determined that a section of the Cherry Brook that was to have a pipeline constructed over it was in fact a healthy section, complete with rare and at-risk wildlife.
“I had been collecting samples there and proved that it was a healthy site,” she said. “Because of my findings and other people speaking against it, they were able to tunnel under the stream to put the pipeline there.”
Sonja also relied on her research when she spoke on behalf of environmental conservation issues involving the Princeton Ridge, which lead to the state Department of Environmental Protection requesting her data.
“I find nature rejuvenates and recharges me,” Sonja said. “I encourage everyone to embrace and celebrate nature and to help protect it.”
Gifted at a young age, Sonja said her family encouraged her curiosity when it came to science. For Sonja’s mother Selina Michaluk, that interest manifested quickly in the youth.
“(Sonja) spends hours under the microscope. She always has,” Selina said. “There’s always something going on.”
The family’s support for Sonja’s scientific endeavors even resulted in the construction of a home lab in the basement of their Titusville home.
“My dad and my grandfather finished the lab and we have microscopes, a big 60 gallon tank, shelves with all of my specimens…beakers, graduates, all kinds of flasks,” Sonja said. “I’ve done a lot of experiments in my science lab but I’m currently using it for my science homework.”
Having grown up with science as an early passion and hobby, Sonja said she does not pay too much attention to the idea that the STEM fields can be a largely male-dominated environment.
“I feel that anybody who is compelled by science should pursue it regardless of their gender,” Sonja said. “I believe very strongly in gender equality, but I think that both genders have the potential to do great things.”
Today, Sonja is taking Honors Biology at Hopewell Valley Central High School. She is also a biology intern at the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association supporting research on the Dam Removal project.
“Right now I am working on sample identification of benthic macroinvertebrates of the Millstone River,” Sonja said. “Some supporters of this project are the state DEP, American Rivers and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).”
Sonja is the youngest member of the Society for Freshwater Science and has since presented her algorithm at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. She is also the recipient of the Naval Science Award.
She also teaches during the summer at 4-H camps and has developed her own curriculum that she has since conducted as a lecture in front of college students at Rider University for the Local Living Expo.
Most recently, Sonja worked with the Encyclopedia Brittanica to create a new entry on macro-invertebrates.
Looking to the future, the budding scientist is looking into developing an app that uses her algorithm to determine a stream’s health.
As for her career aspirations, those outcomes are still up in the air, though Sonja knows where she wants to end up.
“I want to be a research scientist. I’m not quite sure exactly what I would be researching, but I really love working in a lab and working out in the field and collecting data and analyzing it,” she said.
Regardless of what she sets her mind to next, Sonja said she looks to science as a reason for hope and excitement for the future.
“What I’m most interested in is affecting your community and the world around you while trying to raise environmental awareness,” Sonja said. “With science, you can actually make a difference.”
