Rebecca Ye, a 17-year old from Bangor, Maine, is the U.S. winner of the 2010 Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP), the most prestigious international student competition for water-related research. Ye was selected from more than 40 state winners who attended the national SJWP competition, held in 2010 in St. Louis, Missouri. Ye’s project introduced an innovative method for rapid detection of the pathogenic bacteria E. Coli O157:H7 in water.

Ye has been conducting research since 2008. She graduated from Bangor High School in 2010 and is currently a freshman at Washington University in St. Louis. In addition to science, Ye enjoys playing the piano, swimming, and a plethora of other activities.