| Biographies |
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| Alex - I am a Grade 11 student at Marymount Academy in Sudbury, ON. I moved there from Cornwall, England 4 years ago. As secretary of my student council, cast member of the school production, senior captain at my dance studio, and CWSF participant, it is safe to say that I like to stay busy. I am also very passionate towards my studies at school, including all science subjects. Both of my parents are advocates of science and innovation, I guess you could say that it's in my blood. As global citizens, it is our responsibility to care for our environment and its inhabitants. This strong belief is what drove Marika and I to act upon the issue we face in our hometown. The Long Lake Gold Mine was abandoned with no decommissioning whatsoever, resulting in extreme levels of arsenic in the soil which is now leaching into the water. The Ministry of the Environment has a remediation plan however it is expensive and destructive to the ecosystem. We wanted to investigate an alternative solution. That is when we came across the Chinese brake ferns. Advice? I would have to encourage others to pick a topic that really sparks their interest. | | Marika - I am a Grade 10 student from Marymount Academy in Sudbury, ON, home of the Big Nickel. Sudbury is a hotbed of science and innovation, and I’ve always been immersed in science at our two science centres, Science North and Dynamic Earth. In 2011, we moved to one of Sudbury’s 330 lakes, and I discovered that there was an issue at the end of our lake, where an abandoned gold mine was leaching arsenic! The goal of our project was to identify and test an alternate solution to a physical remediation to this beautiful wilderness site. It worked! We spent 6 months testing a fern that takes up significant amounts of arsenic. Our goal now is to convince the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines to add these ferns to the remediation plan for Long Lake. We’d like it if MNDM hired us to run more testing at the site until they get their remediation going! I am into volleyball, downhill skiing and fashion. I plan to study environmental law or medicine as a career. Last words of advice? Connect with research scientist that specialize in your topic early on, ask lots of questions and listen hard! |
| Alex Millar, Marika Moskalyk
Green Gold: Phytoremediation of the Long Lake Gold Mine
| Challenge: | Environment | | Category: | Senior | | Region: | Sudbury | | City: | Sudbury, ON, Lively, ON | | School: | Marymount Academy | | Abstract: | We explored the potential for Pteris vittata (Chinese Brake Fern) to hyperaccumulate arsenic from tailings soil of the abandoned Long Lake Gold Mine. The Ministry of Northern Development and Mines is starting a cleanup of the site due to unacceptable arsenic levels. Our experiment used P. vittata as an additional way of cleaning up the arsenic. Phytoremediation is a developing area of environmental science. |
| Awards | Value | Excellence Award - Senior
Silver Medal
Sponsor: Youth Science Canada | $300.00 | Dalhousie University Faculty of Science Entrance Scholarship
Senior Silver Medallist - $2500 Entrance Scholarship
Sponsor: Dalhousie University, Faculty of Science | $2 500.00 | UBC Science (Vancouver) Entrance Award
Senior Silver Medallist - $2000 Entrance Scholarship
Sponsor: The University of British Columbia (Vancouver) | $2 000.00 | University of Ottawa Entrance Scholarship
Senior Silver Medallist - $2000 Entrance Scholarship
Sponsor: University of Ottawa | $2 000.00 | Western University Scholarship
Silver Medallist - $2000 Entrance Scholarship
Sponsor: Western University | $2 000.00 | | Total | $8 800.00 | |
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