| Biography |
|---|
| My name is Neleah Lavoie and I’m fourteen years old. This is my third time at the CWSF and I am very excited to be back. My main interest is competitive soccer, but I also participate in many school sports, band, Destination Imagination and 4-H. In the future, I want to go to med. school and become a surgeon. This year’s project began last year where my inspiration came from reading an article in my local newspaper about a resource called chitin that can be found in lobster shells. Seeing that I live in a small fishing village and I have a keen interest in science this project has been a perfect fit. The complexity and the cost of chitin and chitosan extraction is a topic that really interests me. The advice I would give to students who are considering doing a project is: choose a topic you’re interested in and let yourself make mistakes because it is through our mistakes that we improve. |
| Neleah Lavoie
Cost-Effective Extraction of Chitin and Chitosan from Lobster Shells
| Challenge: | Resources | | Category: | Intermediate | | Region: | 4-H Canada | | City: | Hunter River, PE | | School: | Gulf Shore Consolidated School | | Abstract: | Every year 7 millions tonnes of lobster shell waste is produced, filling landfills and compost facilities worldwide. Lobster shells contain two valuable substances: chitin and chitosan, both with applications in medicine, agriculture, and engineering. Due to extraction costs, these resources are ignored. My project developed a cost-effective method to extract chitin and chitosan, replacing lab-grade chemicals with household products. Samples were analyzed using NMR spectrometry. |
| Awards | Value | Excellence Award - Intermediate
Bronze Medal
Sponsor: Youth Science Canada | | Western University Scholarship
Bronze Medallist - $1000 Entrance Scholarship
Sponsor: Western University | $1 000.00 | | Total | $1 000.00 | |
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