Lambton County Science Fair attracts more entries

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Sarnia’s Cynthia Rayson was doing what she loved Saturday, as she shared her findings at the Lambton County Science Fair.

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The St. Anne’s eighth-grader said she’s been entering projects since she was in Grade 3, testing things like the effectiveness of bioremediation, of sunscreen, and how dish detergents impact worms.

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Rayson, 13, was one of the fair winners last year who advanced to the national science fair, where she won silver.

She’ll be heading back this year, after winning a judge’s choice award Saturday

Her project, she said, tested different laundry detergents’ impacts on aquatic plants, micro-organisms and germinating seeds.

Most detergents proved not to be environmentally friendly, she said, noting she formulated her own version that beat out all the others in environmentalism, and was second-best at removing stains.

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“I have always loved (participating in the annual fair) more than anything,” she said.

The reasons include meeting new people and expanding her knowledge, she said, adding her interest in water and environmental sciences is in part due to her older sister Annabelle, who is now studying at Harvard, and herself a former science fair champion.

Participation at this year’s fair, held at the Lambton College Event Centre, was up slightly, to 52 projects, said Peter Smith, one of the volunteer organizers.

Last year there were 37 entries, though there were 94 in 2019.

The science fair didn’t run in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, moved online in 2021, and returned in person in 2022.

“It takes time to establish that pattern again” of attending science fairs, Smith said, noting organizers were pleased with this year’s uptick in projects.

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“We’ve got a lot of younger ones who have joined us this time, which is really good,” he said.

“Which means we can sort of build this up and hopefully keep some of them right up to the senior level.”

The fair is open to grades 3-12, and has four age-based categories.

Some entries this year were in French, which was new, Smith said.

Many entries focused on environmentalism, he said.

“It’s always a wide variety of things,” he said.

Heading with Rayson to nationals in Ottawa are Tej Patel, Riley Edmunds and Muhammad Mustafa Arif.

Arif’s brain-computer interface project won best junior and best of fair.

Patel’s, on using machine learning to predict heart disease, was named the senior-division best.

Edmunds’, on environmental impacts of road ice removal substances, received the Imperial Oil judges choice award, while Rayson’s received the TransCanada judges choice award.

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