St. Albert researchers will team up with some talking animals this weekend to share cutting-edge climate and energy research with young scientists.
About 2,000 people will be at the Telus World of Science Edmonton this May 10 to take part in the national Science Rendezvous. Established in 2008 in Ontario, Science Rendezvous is Canada’s biggest one-day science festival, and aims to get youths interested in science.
St. Albert resident Kenneth Tam is heading up the festival’s Alberta branch as assistant director of Future Energy Systems at the University of Alberta. He and about a hundred U of A volunteers will run free activities at the Telus World of Science this weekend to teach kids about climate change, energy, and the environment. Helping them will be Tommy the Dog and Remi the Cat — cartoon animals that star in a series of books on energy systems published by the U of A.
“There’s no single silver bullet when it comes to the energy transition,” Tam said, and it’s important for youths to understand the pros and cons of each approach.
Guests at the festival can explore about 20 stations scattered throughout the science centre to learn about everything from electric vehicles to direct air capture of CO2, Tam said. Youths will get to solve puzzles, build pipe-cleaner DNA strands, and race cans with static electricity (amongst other activities), collecting trading cards along the way. Anyone who collects 10 cards will get to claim a special bonus card.
While the kids play, Tam said parents can chat with U of A researchers about the latest scientific research.
“I remember the first year [we did this] we had a guy ask how to wire up his hunting cabin with solar, and one of our grad students drew him a wiring diagram.”
From coal to cows
St. Albert resident and U of A researcher Domenic Marano will talk at the festival about his work on wastewater recycling with the Calgary-based company Cvictus.
“A significant proportion of our agricultural land is used to make animal feed,” Marano said — particularly soybeans — often at the expense of the forests that keep greenhouse gases and global warming under control.
Cvictus has developed a way to turn buried coal into hydrogen without releasing the coal’s heat-trapping carbon emissions into the atmosphere and to then turn that hydrogen into proteins that can be fed to animals, Marano explained. Scaled up, this technology could reduce the need to clear trees to grow animal feed, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Marano said he’s working with Cvictus to recycle the water used in this process, which could cut the company’s water needs by millions of litres. Guests at his station this Saturday will get to simulate the treatment processes he’s developing by plucking mock waste molecules from a tub of water using tongs, nets, and other tools
Marano said science demos like the ones at this festival were great ways to get kids interested in science and to teach researchers communication skills.
“It really forces you to understand your own research,” he said — if you can explain it to a child, you can explain it to a grant committee.
The Science Rendezvous festival is free with admission to the Telus World of Science Edmonton (email [email protected] should that cost be prohibitive) and runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visit www.futureenergysystems.ca/engage/learning/charge-up-for-an-energy-adventure for details.
