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Last month, we shared a story about two St. Lawrence students who volunteered at the One Young World Summit in Montreal. We have since learned that student Merrick Marshall was also present at the event as a guest and ambassador for AquaAction.

AquaAction is an organization that helps water tech companies get to the next level. Through their pitch competitions and their AquaEntrepreneur program, they have helped create hundreds of startups in the water tech field. Earlier this year, Marshall took part in their Great Lakes Aquahackathon. His project, which he has developed along with fellow St. Lawrence student Alejandro Poirier Corcuera, focuses on lead reduction in the Great Lakes Waterway. The pair came in third in their pitch competition this spring, and were the youngest team taking part. You can read about their experience here.

The Aquahackathon organizers admired Marshall’s passion and skills and recruited him to act as an ambassador at the One Young World Summit. There, he was joined by four other ambassadors, whose research has focused on areas such as water use reduction in farming, nano-particle research and algal bloom prevention. Most of the other ambassadors had already completed their university studies. It is rare for someone of cégep age to be an invitee at the summit; the majority of people in Marshall’s age range are volunteers.

AquaAction sponsored their ambassadors’ attendance at all three days of the conference. Day 1 focused on climate change and water, Day 2 on AI, and Day 3 on world peace. Marshall’s role was to represent AquaAction, including sharing their mission with others at the event. It was also a learning opportunity for him and his fellow ambassadors, he says. Seeing so many powerful people in one room, including thousands of entrepreneurs, was an unusual experience. It was “surreal”, says Marshall, and provided “a complete shift in perspective”.

By gathering with hundreds of innovators and change-makers, I began to grasp the power and scale of human connection. In those few days, I learned lessons from across the globe as attendees shared their stories. Ranging from England, Japan, New Zealand, to Barbados… and in hundreds of fields like healthcare, climate policy, AI, water-tech. Among all these stories, there is a common lesson: that change isn't made by mythic abstract figures on the internet but by these real people—humans like me! Change results from one's small steps that together leave a big impression.

“I have learned countless lessons,” he shares. “It's an experience that has given me so much.”

Congratulations to Marshall on this great achievement, and we wish him and Poirier Corcuera good luck as they continue work on their water startup.

Merrick Marshall attends the One Young World Summit