A team of landscape architecture students from the UO earned a $10,000 prize and a chance at another $100,000 after taking first place in a global contest to improve the food system.

By winning the Biomimicry Global Design Challenge the UO team advances to a prototype round that includes business incubation support as well as the chance at the larger pot of money to help move its design forward. The team’s design is based partly on the digestive system of an earthworm and would help keep nutrients in the soil, decreasing fertilizer use and runoff pollution on farms.

The five-student team beat industry professionals to take first place in the competition. For the full story, see “UO student team wins global design prize” on the School of Architecture and Allied Arts website.

The win also was covered by the website Fast Company. See its story at "3 Nature-Inspired Designs To Make Our Food Systems More Sustainable."