Grade 11 student Ava Haynes won bronze at the Canada Wide Science Fair in Edmonton last month for her research on Cyanobacteria in different lakes in Northern Saskatchewan. (CRDN Kodiak School/Facebook)

By Logan Lehmann

National Bronze

Student from Clearwater River claims bronze at National Science Fair

Jun 10, 2023 | 3:02 PM

A grade 11 student from Clearwater River Dene Nation captured a spot on the podium at the Canada Wide Science Fair in Edmonton last month.

Ava Haynes beat out over 330 other projects at the Fair to claim bronze for her Cyanobacteria research in multiple lakes in northern Saskatchewan. According to Haynes, the win came as a complete surprise to her and her family.

“I didn’t think I was going to win anything,” she recalled. “All the projects there were all above and beyond amazing so it took a minute to register.”

(Youth Science Canada)

Her research began after she heard stories from Elders about how they used to swim, fish, and drink out of the lakes. Fast forward to today and the Elders say that the lakes now produce a certain odour, the fish taste different, and the lakes produce green and blue algae. This information was enough to inspire her to figure out why this drastic change was happening.

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It was widely believed that Cyanobacteria couldn’t make it into lakes that far north due to the normally frigid temperatures and because of this, no one bothered to test the waters. However, with Haynes’ research, she disproved those theories.

Using a sampling process, she collected water from six different lakes in the northwest and put those same samples under a microscope, finding Cyanobacteria in all six samples at varying toxicity levels. Following her research, she then sent the samples to a lab in Quebec to run tests to confirm her findings.

“Then I sent (the samples) to Dr. Milla Rautio at the University of Chicoutimi where she would test it for total phosphorus,” Haynes explained. “In high numbers, that yields that there is a good chance you have Cyanobacteria.”

With her findings and an award to go with it, the community stepped up in support of her research where she said Clearwater River and La Loche have been behind her and her research since the start.

“It definitely wouldn’t be possible without the support,” she said. “In order to do my testing, we were borrowing my school’s boat or we were going to my school’s cabin where they have a boat launch. The community has been very acceptive of my research, they will listen to what I have to say and take it into account. It’s just really nice to have all the support from the community.”

As for what’s next for Haynes, she said she plans to conduct more research on Cyanobacteria to figure out why the toxin appeared in the lakes in the first place. She also hopes to make her way back to next year’s Canada Wide Science Fair in Ottawa.

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logan.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @lloganlehmann