Inuvik student wins bronze medal at national science fair

Gracie Adams, a Grade 8 student in Inuvik, won a bronze medal at a national science fair for her research on zombie fires.

Adams said she always had an interest in climate change, but her research into detecting zombie fires – also known as overwintering fires – began after living in Yellowknife during the 2023 wildfire evacuations.

“That made me really want to help the environment,” said Adams.

Last week, Adams presented her research to scientists, judges, the public and other students from across Canada at the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Edmonton.

She developed a model that would send alerts throughout the winter if it detected smoke so that fire crews know where zombie fires are burning and can be ready to put them out in the spring.

“For my project, I really wanted to make an environmentally friendly and affordable way of detecting zombie fires,” Adams said.

Adams said she received a lot of positive feedback on her project, including suggestions on how to improve the model so that “in the future it could be a real thing that could actually help real people.”

Her favourite part of the experience was presenting to students visiting the science fair.

“It’s really cool to have younger kids who are interested in science look at your project and be inspired,” Adams said.

Adams won an excellence award bronze junior medal for her research. She said the recognition “was just such a happy moment for me and it felt like all my hard work paid off.”

Jasper Willkomm, a Grade 11 student from Inuvik, also attended the national science fair. His research was on oblique wing aircraft and their potential use in search and rescue operations.

“I’ve always been interested by the oblique wing concept and flight in general. So I thought it was a good opportunity to use my interest,” Willkomm said.

He said his project wasn’t at the competitive level this year, but he wanted to attend to see friends he met at last year’s science fair in Fredericton.

Willkomm said his favourite part of the science fair was getting to tour Edmonton and the university campuses at which participants stayed.

Both Adams and Willkomm want to participate in the Canada-Wide Science Fair next year.

“Working hard and presenting your projects – and seeing people who are actually genuinely interested in your project – makes it feel really good and makes me want to learn more and present more to the world,” said Adams.