Otana Jakpor – researcher and activist at 15
From article Youth’s vigor makes a strong impression in environmental hearings, By Amy Littlefield, Los Angeles Times August 26, 2009
15-year-old Otana Jakpor, left, and Carla Truax measure airborne pollutants near County-USC Medical Center. Otana has won many awards for her work. One of her studies found that air purifiers reduce asthmatics’ lung capacity. (photo: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)
“My name is Otana Jakpor, and I am a senior at Woodcrest Christian High School in Riverside,” she began at a recent Environmental Protection Agency hearing on nitrogen dioxide regulations. Dressed in a black suit, with her sister, Jibiana, 4, and her mother, Karen, beside her, she told the panel that nitrogen dioxide from cars contributes to particle pollution and asthma.
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