Platinum, Gold and Bronze for 4-H Members at Canada-Wide Science Fair

Ottawa, Ontario  – 4-H Canada is ecstatic to announce that five 4-H members were medal-winners at the Canada-Wide Science Fair held in Ottawa, Ontario this week.

Mac Dykeman from B.C. took home top honours in the Junior category, earning a gold medal and platinum award for her project “Safer Chick-ments: An innovative solution to reducing stress in chick shipments.”

Mac’s project was voted one of the top three out of 406 in the entire science fair. Mac received several other awards as well, including the Youth Can Innovate Award and the Junior Innovation Challenge Award for best junior project in her category.

Four other 4-H’ers won bronze medals at the Intermediate level:

 >Neleah Lavoie (P.E.I.) for her project “Cost-effective Extraction of Chitin and Chitosan from Lobster Shells”
 >Lara and Liesl Stewart (Alberta) for their project “Biosecurity Disinfectant Efficacy”
 >Amanda Hardman (Alberta) for her project “Crickets for Lunch”

All five of these 4-H’ers earned top spots at the 2018 4-H Canada Science Fair in Truro, Nova Scotia in March 2018, an event made possible with the generous support of Bayer – 4-H Canada’s Science & Technology pillar partner.

These five brilliant young minds then moved on to the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Ottawa this week to compete among the brightest and most innovative students from across the country. Mac Dykeman will now go on to attend the 2019 International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona with the Canadian team.

“The creativity and passion for science from our 4-H members never ceases to amaze me,” said Shannon Benner, 4-H Canada CEO. “Having our 4-H members competing and winning at the highest level in the country is a testament to our youth and the importance our programming places on STEM learning. A huge congratulations to Mac, Neleah, Lara, Liesl and Amanda and all those that participated. I am already looking forward to next year.”

“Congratulations to all of the 4-H members for their outstanding efforts, and for being such a great ambassadors for the 4-H STEM community,” said Luc Bourgeois, Technical Issues Manager at Bayer, and Canada-Wide Science Fair Judge. “The innovation, passion and enthusiasm that was on display was second-to-none, and demonstrates that the 4-H Science & Technology program is developing strong leaders in STEM. Congratulations to all the participants who made it to the Canada-Wide Science Fair.”

4-H Canada’s participation in the Canada-Wide Science Fair is part of an ongoing commitment to furthering science and technology skills and knowledge development for youth through 4-H programming. Together, 4-H Canada and Bayer are working to develop responsible, caring and contributing Canadian youth.