15-year-old Jasmin Foster publishes with Paul Montgomery
15-year-old student Jasmin Foster publishes a paper on menstrual hygiene products and poverty with SoSP's Professor Paul Montgomery
Jasmin Foster
When 15-year-old Jasmin Foster made a discovery during a science project on menstrual hygiene, she was determined to share her findings on a global scale. With help from the School of Social Policy's Professor Paul Montgomery, she has become one of the youngest women to publish in a peer-reviewed journal: A Study of Environmentally Friendly Menstrual Absorbents in the Context of Social Change for Adolescent Girls in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.
Australian student Jasmin goes to a suburban all-girls high school in Sydney, on the traditional Aboriginal lands of the Guringai People of the Eora Nation. “My school prides itself on its STEM program. You will often find me at lunch with my face in an iPad driving robots around as part of the Science and Engineering club,” she says. “I’m an avid member of an international club called Zonta, which advocates for women's rights and gender equality, and in our chapter, we raise funds for a local women’s shelter. I felt this was a great project, but I often questioned how, as an individual, I could make a greater impact.”
In 2020, an opportunity came along in the form of a free choice science assignment. “I had just read the Gates Foundation Global Grand Challenges call out for Innovation in Materials Science for a Transformative Menstrual Health and Hygiene Product. This kicked off a deep dive into an eye-opening, giant pool of background research about girls in low-income countries,” Jasmin explains. “I kept relating what I was reading back to my own recent experiences when I first had my period. When you get your period it feels scary, it feels embarrassing, it feels life changing. Comparing my own personal experiences to that of girls in low-and middle-income countries was mind-boggling. How could it be that some girls cannot attend school because they cannot afford sanitary pads that work? Or that there are no disposal facilities at some schools, so used pads have to be thrown into deserted open areas?”
For her assignment, Jasmin decided to look into affordable, sustainable sanitary alternatives for women in lower to middle income countries. She began by researching environmentally friendly fabrics that were readily available in stores and cheaper than store bought pads. Her research concluded that bamboo wadding had never been tested as an absorbent before; it seemed more absorbent than a commercial sanitary pad. Her teachers were pleased with the results and entered the work in a country-wide student science competition, where it won an award with Australia’s National Science Agency.
Jasmin was keen to share her research on a global level—preferably as a publication—and realised she would need the support of experts. Though daunted by the scale of the task, she shared her science paper with international menstrual hygiene experts. While some responded with useful advice, others were not so helpful; one told her to “go and write her blog” because her paper was “not written correctly.”
Jasmin’s research led her to email the School of Social Policy's Professor Paul Montgomery. Paul’s work on social inclusion has often included projects on poverty and menstrual hygiene products. “I was surprised to get the email, by the novelty of her approach,” Paul says. “I was impressed that a schoolgirl could be inspired to take a global problem, find out something useful, and want to get the results known. Part of what academics need to do is encourage this sort of interaction between researchers at all levels, so I did just that.”
Paul read Jasmin’s paper, providing constructive feedback and encouragement. “Paul was one of the few people who looked at my research and saw the potential of the science, without discriminating due to my age,” she says. “He showed an authentic interest.”
With guidance from Paul, Jasmin began the intense task of rewriting and reshaping her work. Though journals rejected her paper seven times, she always requested feedback to improve the next submission. Her eighth effort was successful, and the paper has now been published in The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
Jasmin believes she may be one of the youngest individual girls to publish an article in a peer-reviewed journal, since Emily Rosa in 1998. She wants academic institutions to consider offering younger researchers the same kind of support and mentorship she has received. “In the music industry, they have a division called A&R (artists and repertoire). These are talented executives who find and develop new talent, guiding promising musicians. They don’t expect them to be fully formed artists, but they look for promise and they nurture enthusiasm. Billie Eilish, for example, was signed to Interscope records when she was fifteen. I thank the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health and the University of Birmingham for supporting my voice and being my ‘A&R executive.’ I would love to see more universities and journals nurture new authors to discover research rock stars.”
Jasmin knows that her journey as a young researcher has only just begun. She wants to continue to learn and grow, and has big plans for her next project. “I want to put together a new in-use study with the Indian NGO, GOONJ, to test bamboo wadding and work with engineers and chemists to create a way to transform bamboo plants to wadding in villages,” she says. “When I leave school, I want to attend a university that supports undergraduate researchers to make global contributions and provides opportunities to work with leading professors.”