Teens Start Nonprofit That Helps Clean Beaches In Bay Area, And In Ghana

DUBLIN, CA —Two Dublin high school students are using technology and volunteers to help clean beaches in the Bay Area and around the world.

Dublin High School students Srikanth Samy and Krishiv Jaini were always interested in marine conservation and technology, and started a club called REEFlect to pitch in. They began by partnering with the East Bay Regional Park District on a number of beach cleanups around the area, Samy told Patch. They also created a smart buoy tool that collects real-time ocean data like temperature, which they share freely with anyone who wants to access it.

“These open-source devices help researchers, governments, and even students understand local ocean health,” Samy said. “Beyond hardware, we’ve also built digital platforms for data sharing with a demo website we plan to fill up with real data once we get the buoys working at OpenOceans.life.”

The REEFlect team is also collaborating with the Clean Ocean Project Ghana on beach cleanups in the West African country, particularly around the capital Accra. In addition to cleanups, they host climate movies for locals each week, and work to educate younger students about ocean conservation.

Ghana has a pretty high youth population and has an urgent need for sustainable coastal practices. We were also able to easily get in contact with a really big Ocean Conservation organization there called Clean Ocean Project Ghana (COPG), so they helped us get in touch with many students and educators there to present information about climate conservation to younger kids.

“Ghana has a pretty high youth population and has an urgent need for sustainable coastal practices,” Samy said. “We were also able to easily get in contact with a really big Ocean Conservation organization there called Clean Ocean Project Ghana (COPG), so they helped us get in touch with many students and educators there to present information about climate conservation to younger kids.”

Samy and Jaini plan to visit Ghana this summer, where they will view the work they’ve done, follow up with local teams, and premiere a mini-documentary on the work they’ve done with the Clean Ocean Project Ghana.

For more information, visit REEFlect.org and OpenOceans.life, follow them on Instagram, donate here, or email srikanth.samy008@gmail.com