Local students at the Canada-wide Science Fair

The Canada-wide Science Fair goes this week in Regina, Saskatchewan and five local students are taking part.

They include West Ferris Secondary students Caleb Charette and Riley Geisler, who also advanced to last year’s national event.

Charette says they learned some valuable lessons by going last year.

“One, the etiquette of the event, how to compose yourself by looking what the winners last year did and how they spoke to the judges, how they formulated their questions and responses,” he says.

Charette says they also had more time for this project and made adjustments to their presentation board.

Their project this year is The Study of Genetic Disease Treatment Using CRISPR Proteins.

“Looking at different kinds of genetic diseases, like cancer and diabetes and how you can treat them through gene therapy and gene editing,” he says.

Overall, Charette is excited for the Canada-Wide Science Fair and is hopeful they’ll win an award and maybe advance to the international level.

The grade 10 students are both looking at becoming doctors, with Charette saying he’s also interested in research.

In the meantime, their work has garnered attention.

“IION, Innovation Initiatives Ontario North, they helped by giving us a lot of financial support which we really, really appreciate. As well, we’re working with McGill University (in Montreal), they give us free access to their lab,” he says.

Also at the Canada-wide Science Fair are Jacob Galema of Widdifield Secondary School for his project “An Antacid for the Soil?” along with Chloe Carriere and Caitlin Howard of St. Joseph-Scollard Hall for their project “Effect of Stinging Nettle on the Alzheimer’s Profile in Drosophila Melanogaster”.