Generation Impact is a new video series from the Garage by HP about cutting-edge young innovators who are using technology to create a more equitable world. The third film in the series, The Scientist, is about Emily Tianshi, a young woman striving to raise awareness and create solutions for the global water crisis. At age 13, Emily transformed her garage into a science lab to research San Diego’s unique Torrey Pine tree and uncovered how the tree’s unique needle structure enable its survival through years of severe drought in California. Using a $20 microscope, Legos and various household items, she developed a prototype to harvest atmospheric moisture, which has the potential to help produce water in areas of severe drought.

Tianshi has applied for a patent on the device she created and is also the founder of Clearwater Innovation, an environmental advocacy program that encourages student innovation to solve environmental problems.