2025 High School Winners

Katelyn Emdee is a 12th-grade student at James River High School in Virginia. She first learned about the World of 8 Billion video contest through her AP Environmental Science teacher, who assigned it as a class project. Encouraged by her classmates’ anonymous feedback and her teacher’s support, Katelyn decided to submit her video to help raise awareness about deforestation and the critical role rainforests play in our global ecosystem.

Katelyn chose the rainforest ecosystems topic because she saw it as a chance to dive deeper into a topic she hadn’t explored before. While she had learned about environmental degradation in class, her research opened her eyes to how heavily society relies on rainforest resources and that the smallest actions can contribute to deforestation. She focused her video on practical steps individuals can take to help save the rainforest, hoping to inspire others to become more involved.

Although she had never made a video for a contest before, Katelyn enjoyed the creative challenge. She used WeVideo on her school Chromebook to edit everything herself, carefully syncing images with her voiceover. She took inspiration from watching YouTube videos and decided to try handmade drawings and stitched them together in her video to deliver her message. She said editing was one of the toughest yet most rewarding parts of the process. “Pick something that really interests you,” she advises future participants. “That’s what makes it fun. And getting feedback from others was one of the biggest things that helped me improve.”

Outside of school, Katelyn enjoys participating in her school’s Latin Club and Asian Dancing Club. She also enjoys baking, especially desserts and cookies, and likes to unwind by playing video games. After high school, she plans to attend Virginia Tech to study engineering—a path inspired by her father, a software engineer, and her older brothers who also pursued engineering fields. Katelyn hopes to continue making short videos in the future and sees creative projects like this one as both fun and meaningful.

She plans to save her prize money for college and encourages others to submit their videos even if they’re unsure. “I didn’t think my video would go as far as it did,” she said. “But it was a great learning experience. I got to understand the impact rapid population growth has on our ecosystems, and how we can be part of the solution.”