Charlotte Wright, a Year 13 student at St Leonards-Mayfield School in East Sussex, is celebrating after being 
presented with a Gold CREST Award at the University of Brighton on Friday 30 November.
Charlotte, from Wadhurst, East Sussex, was honoured to receive the prestigious award from the British Science Association for research work she did during a placement at De Montfort University during the summer holidays. She was researching the removal of organic compounds from wastewater using hydrogen peroxide.
As she explained, “It might not sound very glamorous, working with wastewater, but residual pollutants in treated water can cause problems in the environment, so it was great to be working on such a real and current issue.”
During the three week placement, Charlotte spent over 90 hours in the University chemistry laboratories, overseeing dozens of experiments using sophisticated equipment, analysing the results, investigating any anomalies, and finally writing up a lengthy report.
CREST is Britain’s largest national award scheme for project work in science and technology. Charlotte was delighted to receive an Award, following assessment of her report and an interview at the University of Brighton.
She commented “I thoroughly enjoyed my time at De Montfort University. The hands-on experience was fantastic and it gave me a real insight into the challenges and rewards of research work. I found it immensely satisfying.”