Riverside Students Win Awards for Wildfire Prevention
The twin brothers secured $20,000 for research into using hydrogels to stop forest fire rekindling.
Updated on Oct. 29, 2026 in Chemistry
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Riverside 14-year-olds Henry and Jack Grover won a combined $20,000 at the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge. The twin brothers received the awards for their research into using sodium polyacrylate hydrogel to prevent wildfires from re-igniting.
Why it matters
The project addresses a critical challenge in wildfire management by exploring chemical interventions to stop rekindling in dry, fire-prone regions. This research was inspired by the 2025 Palisades Fire in Los Angeles County, highlighting how local environmental events inform student-led chemical engineering.
The study utilized sodium polyacrylate—a superabsorbent polymer capable of retaining high volumes of water—to create a protective barrier. The effectiveness of this hydrogel-based application was tested for its capacity to prevent re-ignition in conditions modeled after the 2025 Palisades Fire.
The players
Henry Grover
A 14-year-old researcher from Riverside and recipient of the Broadcom Coding with Commitment Award.
Jack Grover
A 14-year-old researcher from Riverside and recipient of the DOW STEM Talent Award.
Thermo Fisher Scientific
A life sciences company that provides analytical instruments and sponsored the junior innovation competition.
The details
The brothers developed a specialized sprayer system designed to coat vegetation and fire-scarred soil with a sodium polyacrylate hydrogel. This material acts as a moisture-retaining shield, cooling the substrate and increasing the energy threshold required for a new flame to ignite. The mechanism relies on the hydrogel's internal lattice structure, which captures water molecules and releases them slowly, potentially delaying the return of fire to vulnerable sites.
Timeline
The Palisades Fire occurred in 2025.
The Junior Innovators Challenge took place the week of October 29, 2026.
The Tech Race
This project contributes to the ongoing research race in fire-retardant chemistry, following precedents set by the 2025 Palisades Fire. It competes with existing industry-standard fire suppressants by evaluating the scalability of low-cost, water-retaining polymer applications.
This research provides a new potential protocol for local fire departments to manage fire-scarred areas more effectively. It highlights a shift toward using accessible, off-the-shelf superabsorbent polymers for real-world environmental mitigation.
The takeaway
The Grover brothers' success demonstrates the potential for applying simple, moisture-retaining chemistry to the complex problem of wildfire rekindling. Observers should track future studies that compare the performance of these hydrogels against industrial-grade retardants in controlled burns.
Further reading
Explore more ongoing developments in Chemistry research.
More information
View project details on the Society for Science project information page.
Source note: This article includes information reported by My News LA.
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