THUNDER BAY — Six local students will be making their way to the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Fredericton, New Brunswick, after successful projects in the 61st annual Northwestern Ontario Regional Science Fair.
Results came in on Friday for the Northwestern Ontario Regional Science Fair, and students were presented with awards. Six winning students between Grades 7 and 12 will make up the region's 2025 Canada-Wide Science Fair team.
The team consists of Livia Hoard, Celeste Marcon, Chloe Nordstrom, Aby Nelson, Lakelan Mackenzie and Gabriela Blandon Atia.
Grade 12 student Livia Hoard was the recipient of the best in fair award and received an entrance scholarship to Lakehead University.
“I designed a fridge that is able to cool the inside air of a fridge and a cooling room, without the use of a compressor. I started this project around December because I needed to do trials when the air temperature was cold enough,” she said.
Taking the fair's top prize felt exciting and also overwhelming, said Hoard.
“I suggest young minds enter the fair, it's worth it,” she said.
Celeste Marcon, Grade 9 student, also became a member of the Canada-Wide Science Fair team.
Marcon received the two of the top three prizes for intermediate projects: an LU book award and a judging award.
“My project, investigating quantum properties and neuron processes, basically evaluated the potential by doing a literature search and synthesis, whether quantum properties such as entanglement or tunnelling or coherence could occur in the brain despite its complex environment.”
Marcon said the longest part of the process was collecting all the information.
Marcon said to anyone who may want to join to fair that they should never stop trying.
“I feel pretty great. This is actually my second time going. I'm super excited, I'm hoping I do a bit better than last year,” she said.
Aby Nelson and Chloe Nordstrom, Grade 7 students, made the team with their partner project.
“We tested different ways that you could prevent or stop a forest fire,” Nelson said.
The two Kakabeka Falls students also took home the best junior project and a Lakehead University book award.
“I went into shock and could not believe it. My mind went blank and I was shocked by it, we were not expecting it,” Nordstrom said.
The two agreed that the competition was tough, and said they are proud to be on the team.
They encouraged other students to get involved.
“Don't be nervous,” Nelson said.
Nordstrom added, “We were terrified to start off with this, but definitely find a person that can help guide you. You can always go to them if you need help with your project. Be brave and be confident with it. We weren't expecting it and hey, we're going to the Canada-Wide.”
Lakelan Mackenzie, a Grade 10 student, received an entrance scholarship for the University of Ottawa, along with her spot on the team.
She received a few other awards including an innovative chemistry award.
“My project was based on what drinks convert the most sucrose to glucose,” she said.
Her project has been in the works since September, Mackenzie said, adding that the actual experiment took her one weekend to complete.
“I'm honestly very surprised. I know I put a lot of work into this, but lots of my classmates had very good projects as well. I wasn't expecting to get this much, and I'm nervous to go but I'm also excited because of all the hard work that I put into this,” she said.
Another Grade 10 student, Gabriela Blandon Atia, talked to Newswatch on the day of the regional science fair, and also made the Canada-Wide team.
Her project looking at the effects microplastics present in the soil had on plant growth earned Blandon Atia few awards.
“I got one of the top two awards of excellence for intermediate projects, I got the water environmental award, the intermediate senior award of excellence and the Horticultural Society award as well," she said.
Blandon Atia said there was a lot of tough competition at the fair.
“There were lots of really good other projects. I was doubting if I was going to go," she said. “It's going to be a pretty fun trip. I've never been on the east coast, so it's going to be fun to explore New Brunswick, but I'm also pretty nervous for the fair because it has 400 other participants.”
Blandon Atia said close friends and family really helped her success with the fair.
“Find someone that really helps and someone that has some experience in that area. If they know what they're doing, they're passionate about their jobs, it's the little push that you're looking for,” she said.
The Canada-Wide Science Fair will be held from May 31 to June 7 at the University of New Brunswick.
