Methane gas is the second-largest contributor to Earth’s warming, and recent data show an increase in global methane emissions – leading to habitat destruction, wetlands degradation and human illness, said Alexandra Kanterezhi-Gatto, a rising junior at the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Sciences in Stafford Township.

The MATES student is currently at work on a cutting-edge climate biotech project within the Cattus Island salt marsh in Barnegat Bay, looking to develop a…