ENSS student headed to Tunisia

Jennine Boyce, left, and Jessica Kuipers won an Honourable Mention at the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Winnipeg this month.



When Jessica Kuipers and her partner, Jennine Boyce started their science fair project in January, 2009, Jessica had no idea it would even win a prize. She definitely never expected it would take her to Africa.

But the project, and a convincing letter to the adjudicators at the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Winnipeg, has earned the grade 12 student a trip to Tunisia this summer to an international science fair promoting peace and international development.

In an interview following the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Winnipeg, Jessica explained the basics of their project.

The goal was simple - to break down organic material using pyrolysis. The result is pure carbon charcoal.

Pyrolysis is the burning of a substance and breaking it down without oxygen. Jessica adds that it can't happen naturally.

The 17-year-olds studied the effects of the resultant biochar on soil quality and found it consistently made plants stronger. They found an added side effect - it acted as a carbon sink.

They created the biochar in the snow. As the experiment unfolded gases were released; gases, like hydrogen, could be trapped and used. Every bit of the substance can be used when it is broken down this way.

They used wood in their experiment but Jessica says you could use any material with a carbon backbone. Straw, sewage and other materials could be used, and the young scientist says it could be made commercially viable.

"In an ideal world Canada could adopt the process as its own and use it to meet the Kyoto goals. It's green renewable energy," she says.

Jessica credits science teacher Liz Payette for getting them headed in the right direction. They came to her looking for ideas and she made a couple of suggestions. They were off.

Earlier in the year they took it to the Peterborough Regional Science Fair as a Chemistry Independent Study Unit in the Senior Biological Life Sciences Division. Jessica never thought it would entitle them to a trip to the 48th Canada-Wide Fair on May 9-17 - after all, only five qualified.

Their regional win earned them the trip to Winnipeg and scholarships from the University of Ottawa - a package valued at $3,500.

In the fall both young women plan to attend the University of Ottawa. Jessica is headed into nursing, while Jennine is off to study International Development.

Thousands enter the regional fairs. Only the best get to the national contest, the premier event of the Youth Science Council National Science Fair Program.

About 450 top young scientists in grades 7-12 are chosen from approximately 25,000 competitors at over one hundred regional science and technology fairs across the country. These elite participants compete in nine divisions and three age categories for medals and other prizes worth over $360,000. Judges include top scientists and industry experts.


An important goal of the event is to promote youth education as well as the passion and excitement of science. "We believe that young Canadian scientists are the next generation of innovators and this is an amazing event to encourage and support their interest" says Reni Barlow, Executive Director of Youth Science Fairs.

The girls were understandably excited to earn an honourable mention on the national stage.





Jessica, left, and Jennine become the first award winners to cross the stage at a Canada-Wide Science Fair in bare feet. Jessica had injured her foot the night before and Jennine took her shoes off in solidarity.




With the Canada-Wide experience behind her, Jessica launched her application to attend the Peace and Development Science Fair in Tunisia, July 22-9.

To get there she needed a project promoting peace and development, and an essay to demonstrate that she would be a good ambassador for Canada.

Excerpts from the essay are included below. In it she points out the values of community and the strong roles played by the women in her family.

"Community has always been a very important part of my life, and has had a major influence on who I am. My hometown of Brighton is a wonderful place, with a small-town, happy nature, and a strong sense of togetherness. Growing up in Brighton acquainted me with these ways, and it made me want to mirror these attributes in myself, and in my relationships with others.

Another strong influence in my life has been my family community, and in particular, all of the women of my family. My Oma always enforced a strong sense of faith in all of her children and grandchildren. My Grandmother was always involved in city councils, and firmly believed that if you didn't like something, you should work to change it. Lastly, my mother, Sherry, showed me how important an active family life is. I have adopted all of these traits and qualities as my own, and I know that wherever life takes me, I will always have these roots engrained into the person I am.

In her interview with Cramahe Now Jessica also pointed to the strengths of the men in her family. Opa Kuipers has maintained a strong religious commitment and always encouraged her. Grandpa Hopkins showed her the value of having someone to rely on. And her dad, Lou, is the hardest working person she has ever known.

She goes on in her Tunisia application to tell of her secondary school experiences.

"For the past three years, I have been involved in the Student Government of ENSS, two of which were spent as Prime Minister. I have really enjoyed this role, and have learned so much from everyone I had the opportunity to meet in this role.

For the past two years, I was also able to be a part of the Northumberland Chamber of Commerce, as the Student Representative for ENSS, and met many members of the community, all of whom were very proud of their community, volunteering many hours of their time to build it up. Through my involvement, I have met many amazing people, and I really learned there is much greater dimension to them than you might guess. If you just take the time to listen, you will learn things; some of which may be of a nature that you could not have imagined beforehand.

I have been to Africa once, undertaking relief work in the impoverished country of Zambia. This experience was very much an eye-opener, seeing the many who owned nothing, and had none of their family members left.

It was even harder yet to come back to Canada, and see people concerned about what they would wear or eat the next day, when, in Zambia, many people were considered lucky to have more than one outfit, and never even knew if they would eat the next day.

This experience gave me optimism, teaching me to appreciate everything I have, and treat every day as a gift.

I hold true to a very strong Canadian background, and next year I plan to begin my career in the Canadian military, wherein I will complete four years of schooling to become a nurse, all the while training with the military during summers.

After these years of schooling are complete, I will become a regular member of the military, in my chosen profession of nursing. During my unsuing years of service, I will be an ambassador of Canada in areas abroad and unknown, dependant on whichever area they call me to. I am fully prepared to follow wherever I am called to go in this military duty, and am very excited for the opportunities it presents to me.

Everyone is an ambassador. Whether they know it or not, every single person is representing their nation, race, generation, belief, or gender. There are many good ambassadors and there are many bad ambassadors.

I believe that I will be a good ambassador for my country and my peers, representing my generation in Canada to those from different cultures."

For more photos from the science fair click on Jessica Kuipers