Kira Burnett, a member of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts Class of 2025, was named a 2025 U.S. National Runner Up in the U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) competition.
SWJP is a prestigious competition that recognizes high school students in grades 9-12 who have conducted a water-science research project. The competition was founded in 1997 by the Stockholm International Water Institute to complement the Stockholm Water Prize. The U.S. national competition was held June 19-22 at Washington University in St. Louis. Burnett qualified for the national competition by winning the state competition to represent Arkansas this spring.
Burnett was recognized for her research project, “Urbanization’s Impacts on Aquatic Ecosystems: Assessing Phosphorus Transport, Biological Health, and for Endocrine Disruptors.” She conducted the research as a student at ASMSA. Burnett observed the travel of phosphorus, a potentially harmful nutrient when in excess, within Hot Springs Creek to protect the downstream habitat of the Ouachita River. She also examined phosphorus’ effect on macroinvertebrates, which are important stream organisms, and plastic pollutants called phthalates in another body of water that leads into the Ouachita River.
“Luckily, I found no phthalates present,” Burnett said. “However, I discovered that Hot Springs Creek was exporting large amounts of phosphorus into the Ouachita River.”
Her research showed that the phosphorus was traveling about 5 kilometers before being taken up by algae or macroinvertebrates. Levels of macroinvertebrates had decreased in diversity when compared to a study conducted in 2020, a year with lower phosphorus levels, Burnett said.
Burnett said her study revealed that high phosphorus levels could lead to detrimental effects on many sensitive endangered and endemic species that call the Ouachita River home unless remediation efforts are taken.
“My research into phosphorus transport within an urban system provides a more thorough understanding of dynamic nutrient movement, rather than just a snapshot at one point in time, which leads to more targeted regulations and remediation to protect crucial habitats,” she said.
The competition is similar to the science fairs Burnett has participated in both at ASMSA and at the Arkansas State Science and Engineering Fair but was more intense in some ways. “I was intimidated at first because the other competitors had participated in international competitions before, and most were engineering projects rather than ecology like mine. The day of interviews were similar to what I had previously done at state science fairs, except my judges were extremely knowledgeable in my field, so my answers had to be spot on. Overall, it was exciting yet nerve-wracking,” Burnett said.
Burnett was one of two runners-up named for this year’s national competition. She had to show a bit of patience during the awards ceremony once she realized her project had earned recognition.
“They began by reading off project names before the state and (contestant) name, and the second they said the first word, I was about to burst out of my seat, but I had to wait,” she said. “Everyone was looking around trying to figure out who it was, and when they said Arkansas, then everyone knew it was me and began to cheer.
“I was totally not expecting it, so to say I was happy would be an understatement. It felt like an underdog moment because Arkansas is sort of written off, and a lot of people were expecting the states with the largest populations to be the only ones to win, so on the stage, I was feeling like an Arkansas patriot.”
Burnett hopes that having the Arkansas Water Environment Association as a sponsor of the state competition and a runner-up in the national competition will encourage more students to participate in future competitions. “I hope to see a national overall winner and even international winner hailing from Arkansas!” she said.