Dana Bao is an active youth researcher passionate in research related education since the age of 14, and is proud to serve as a Youth Ambassador of Ariel Foundation International.
She conducted independent research on the salinity tolerance of cruciferous vegetables and mitigating its threat using fungal polysaccarides, and this was showcased at Learning Planet Festival 2022. Subsequently, with Pioneer Academics, she performed additional research regarding sleep deprivation’s genetic influence on Huntington’s disease.
From these two unique experiences amongst others, she realized the limitation most of the current public K-12 courses have on independent research, thus founded Prospect Youth Institute, a youth-designed, self-guided and open-source platform about the methodology of independent research for high school students. The platform focuses on providing a set of research methodology for each subject discipline that is feasible for high school students, with a vision of making research methodology more accessible to a wider range of students. This project was formally introduced at Catalyst 2030’s Catalysing Change Week 2022, where she was a speaker.
