By Gabe Themar
On June 6, Tanishka Balaji Algave, a student at Strawberry Crest High School, was honored for her ingenuity and discovery of a natural way to manage citrus greening disease at the 10th annual RTX Convention U.S. Nationals. She, and 70 other K-12 students, including two others from the Greater Tampa Bay Area, were celebrated for their practical inventions addressing real-world issues, including education, accessibility, safety, energy and health.
Algave, a Sophomore at Strawberry Crest and member of its IB program, earned second place in the whole country in the 10th grade category and won the Agriculture & Food Award for Novel Approach for Citrus Greening Disease Management.
“The citrus greening disease is the most prominent threat to all citrus cultivars worldwide caused by a phloem-limited and vector-transmitted bacterial pathogen.” Algave explained, “To address this major challenge in the Florida and global citrus industry, this project aimed to develop a sustainable and eco-friendly solution for effectively managing disease.”
Algave, who grew up on a citrus farm, competed against her peers at the local and regional level before advancing to the U.S. national competition. To participate, students must send in a video presentation of their invention, a prototype, a logbook documenting the process and journey taken during the inventing process and a poster board highlighting key points of the invention process. Algave’s invention was then judged against all local entries, the best entries from the greater region, and finally honored as one of the best inventions nationwide.
This isn’t Algave’s first time being recognized for her work. In June 2024, Algave earned the $10,000 H. Robert Horvitz Prize for Fundamental Research for her investigation into a natural alternative way to treat citrus greening disease. At just 15 years old, Algave discovered that by injecting an extract of the curry leaf tree into the trunks of infected citrus trees, the disease could be effectively managed.
RTX, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, and host of the invention convention, is the world’s largest aerospace and defense company that pushes the limits of known science and redefines how to connect and protect the world by advancing aviation, building smarter defense systems and creating innovations to take people deeper into space.
You must be logged in to post a comment.