Lisgar Collegiate student Emma Graham didn’t win today’s national biotechnology competition, but she did walk away with a $1,000 prize for the project with the most potential for commercialization.
Graham, a 16-year-old Grade 10 student, used Indian dill oil to create a more environmentally-friendly insecticide to combat potato beetles.
She attends Lisgar’s congregated gifted program and says that it gives her a chance to share her interest in science fairs.
Graham was one of 14 regional finalists in the annual Sanofis-Aventis BioTalent competition.
Grade 9 Saskatchewan student Rui Song, the youngest-ever national finalist in the event’s 17-year history, took home the top prize of $5,000.
Her project revealed an early way to tell apart two strains of a crop-killing fungus, one strain of which can wipe out half a farmer’s lentil harvest if left unrecognized and untreated.