By Erika Zambello, based on an article by Madison Toonder.

Though still in high school, Madison Toonder is passionate about science, and recently used the scientific method to study oysters in the coastal environment near her Florida home.

“I discovered the importance of conservation at a young age,” she wrote in a new article for Voices for Biodiversity. “My interest in protecting oysters developed after visiting Busch Gardens in the summer of 2014, where I learned that worldwide populations are in decline due in part to pollution from fertilizer, fossil fuels, waste runoff and sunscreen.”

Read the rest on Nat Geo Voices.