Every morning last week, I awoke to thick frost across the yard. Where I live in California, frost is a welcomed signal for a new season. But in many places across the United States, winter storms have devastatingly taken lives. As we leave the house in these conditions, icy roads and airplane wings quickly get frightening. For the last 40+ years, the answer has been chemical anti-ice agents, but they seep into the ground, contaminate our water supply, and make their way into rivers and lakes, toxifying fish, aquatic bugs, and amphibians. 

There has to be another way to address this problem.

In Montana, a group of middle schoolers created a biomimetic solution while participating in our Youth Design Challenge. Looking to AskNature.org for inspiration, Team Biosurfaces learned from mint leaf surfaces, whose tall peaks and valleys have angles in-between to stop ice formation. Going even further, a bumpy surface design emulated from the hydrophobic Cicada wings helps prevent frost from building up. Safer surfaces to avoid unintended consequences from an already complicated issue means less, or no, chemical deicer. Imagine when we all learn to take our design cues from the natural world.

This year, the Youth Design Challenge curriculum reached over 12,000 students—a record. But this record was made to be broken. In a time of grim predictions, loss, and crisis, our path forward is rooted in finding ways to address these problems one step at a time. We want to empower youth to approach these challenges with hope.

Our sphere of influence centers on making a positive impact for education; and in 2023, we want more solutions like Team Biosurfaces created that can make a difference. To support this mission, our board of directors is offering a generous 1:1 match for the next $10,000 in donations received before the end of the year. This means that your donation has twice the impact, which we can put towards opportunities like new professional development for educators and program improvements to help reach more youth.

Our hearts go out to all affected by the winter storms, and we appreciate this community's continued support. 

Sincerely,
Beth Rattner
Executive Director 

P.S. Make your gift to the Biomimicry Institute before midnight, December 31, to support the $10,000 dollar-for-dollar matching offer. Donate Now.