A University of Oregon landscape architecture student team defeated professional competitors to take first prize in a global innovation challenge to improve the food system, winning $10,000 and advancement to a prototype round. The team now will be provided business incubation support and an opportunity to win $100,000 and move their design to production.

The UO team’s design, which would help farmers retain nutrients in soil while decreasing fertilizer use, was based in part on the earthworm’s digestive system and would improve soil health over time.

The team members are Wade Hanson, Casey Howard, Matt Jorgensen, Alison Lewis, and Krisztian Megyeri. All but Howard, the team captain and an undergraduate student, are graduate students, and all were in a spring 2015 class taught by Instructors Anne Godfrey and Emma Froh.

“This is A&AA and the Department of Landscape Architecture at our best: expansive and systems-based thinking, a commitment to pressing environmental and social issues, and the highest level of creativity and execution,” said Brook Muller, interim dean of A&AA.

For more information about the prize-winning team, visit the A&AA website.