LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- One Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) student hopes to help clean up the planet's future oil spills.

"If anybody ever feels like they want to clean up the oceans with me, I'm down for it," said ninth grader Seth Niemann.

Thousands of oil spills happen each year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Though some spills are small, they can still cause damage to the environment.

In 2020, Niemann learned about the tragic impacts of oil spills into the Gulf of Mexico. He was in science class when he learned that hundreds of thousands of birds died because of it.

Niemann was in sixth grade at the time, but he knew he wanted to make a difference. He put his passion for the environment to the test at his middle school's science fair.

"I cleaned up oil spills at a small scale," Niemann said. "There's a gram of milkweed in here and a gram of titanium dioxide."

Every year since, Niemann's spent the science fair season perfecting his small-scale clean-up effort.

He's filled test tubes and fish tanks with fresh or salt water, motor oil and a tea bag. 

"if I just leave the tea bag in here for a while, it'll start sucking the oil up," Niemann said.

STEAM oil experiment

Seth Niemann has filled test tubes and fish tanks with fresh or salt water, motor oil and a tea bag. 

This project earned him national recognition. In April, he presented at the first ever National STEM Festival in Washington, D.C.

"I met people that worked at the Environmental Protection Agency," he said. "We even got letters from Obama, and everyone was hyped about that."

He said this experience made feel proud of all his hard work.

"It  felt like everything I did was really worth it," he said.

He hopes to soon test his project in ponds and lakes and eventually help with ocean-wide oil spills.

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